


The Warriors

by Vhigh5



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Abuse, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bottom Rhys (Borderlands), Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Smut, Fanboy Rhys (Borderlands), Handsome Jack (Borderlands) Being an Asshole, Hyperion CEO Handsome Jack (Borderlands), M/M, No Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Rhys is Handsome Jack's Personal Assistant, Sloppy Makeouts, Smut, Spoilers, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:20:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22796971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vhigh5/pseuds/Vhigh5
Summary: Retelling the story for before The Handsome Jackpot. Rhys gets a chance to work for his idol but things take a turn for the good and for the worst.
Relationships: Handsome Jack & Rhys (Borderlands), Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	1. Expect

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy here we go. Major spoilers ahead for those who have not played borderlands 2 or Tales of Borderlands. Things are beginning a new. New story, same old Jack.

Snoring through his seventh alarm that morning, Vaughn finally gave up and kicked on Rhys door. 

"BRO, you're gonna be late."

Rhys snorted and wiped his face. He checked his alarm and low and behold, he had ten minutes to get ready. Rhys jumped into action, jumped into his favourite skinny jeans, threw on one of his many half shirts to show off his robotic arm, and lastly the skinny tie to fit the outfit. He glued his hair back with gel, brushed his teeth, and off he was, nearly forgetting to put on shoes. Just as the clock struck 8, Rhys was slamming into his desk with a cup of coffee, nearly spilling it onto his recent paper work. Heart pounding, Rhys felt today was going to be an interesting day. Not only was Rhys in one of the coolest places to work, Rhys was in the league to be one of Jack's assistants. If it weren't for Rhys slamming into Jack's personal assistant the one day, none of this would be happening. 

"If I have to repeat your name one more time Rhys, I'm gonna blow a hole in your head."

Rhys shook himself out of it and stood at attention. Jack huffed and looked at everyone. 

"Now, it's not every day we have vault hunters stomping around Pandora. Especially ones that should've died on that God damn train. But that's besides the point. I need all of you to give me the best you've got in stopping these assholes. Track them down and get rid of them. Mmmkay? I'll check on you kiddos later."

Jack sauntered off back down the hall to his office. Rhys noticed he had been holding his breath and quietly let it out. He took a few deep breaths before cracking his fingers and getting to work. What exactly was one lacky gonna do to get Jack's attention? Rhys thought about hiring some local assassins could do the trick. He fired off a few offers and before he knew it, the assassins had agreed and were on the move. Rhys sighed loudly as his favourite time of the day finally hit. Lunch time.

Rushing to the cafeteria, hoping to beat the line, Rhys nearly tripped but fell directly into someone. Their papers went flying in all directions and it sent their coffee pouring down with it. Rhys watched in slow motion as the coffee collided with some of the paper work. He immediately changed his day of average to just got a lot worse.

"I am so so so so so so so so sorry. Oh my God. Let me help."

Rhys scrambled on the ground, picking up some of the damp pieces of paper and some of the clean pieces, keeping them separate from each other. The man on the other side nearly huffed and watched as Rhys scrambled to pick up the papers. 

Rhys froze for a moment, looked up and discovered who he had collided with. 

"Vasquez" 

"I think you mean the new assistant, Vasquez." 

Rhys tried to laugh it off and stood. Vasquez tore the papers out of Rhys hands."

"I'd hope for your sake, he kills you quickly."

Vasquez started walking off and Rhys tried to get him back, "Yeah well I hope for your sake he - and he's ignoring me. Great." 

Rhys barely saw Vasquez flip him off. He officially put the just got a lot worse day to he might die. 

After the incident, Rhys got stuck in line for the cafeteria which always took up most of his break. He got a chicken burger with extra fries, knowing a certain someone would probably steal some. He paid and found the small table hidden away by a set of stairs where Vaughn waved him over. He noticed Yvette had her head on the table. Just another horrible regular day for her it seemed. 

"I bought extra fries to share."

Yvette perked up and slapped the seat beside her.

"My favourite person-"

Vaughn gasped, "Hey!"

Yvette chuckled, "My favourite person right now."

Rhys shook his head and sat down. Immediately, Yvette dug into the fries. They quickly got chatting about their regular to horrible day. Vaughn was overwhelmed with budgeting, Yvette was getting crushed with work orders and Rhys,

"Jack's starting us off high by tracking down and getting rid of vault hunters."

Yvette swallow her fries, "And I thought I had it rough. How does Jack expect you to do it?"

Rhys rubbed his eyes, feeling the tiredness and anxiety hit him, "No clue but I think I'm on the right track."

Not much happened unless Jack ordered it. The day went from he might die to what is happening! As soon as Rhys got to his desk, he regretted saying he was on the right track. Two of his assassins bailed and the others were either seriously hurt or killed. Rhys groaned and tried to think of another idea. He gently slammed his head into his desk, expecting the idea to smash into his brain when it actually hit. Smashing. The moon shot. Rhys could shoot down the hunters, maybe with some loaders to back him up. Rhys took a deep breath and got typing away. His eye scanned the papers, making the work a little more smooth and bearable. With each paper, a new load of loaders were sent to the moonshot and prepared. Before Rhys realized it, it was overtime. He finished away as quickly as he could but then someone knocked on his cubicle,

"Sorry I don't have time, I just need to finish these."

"You better make time, cupcake."

Rhys froze and knew the voice all too well. He carefully turned in his chair, hands still locked in position as if still typing, and sitting on the desk next to his was the Handsome Jack. Rhys jaw hit the floor. What in the hell was happening.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah. Wiped the droll off your face. Listen, I need the rest of those loaders now. I don't give a flying fuck what it takes. Get it done."

Rhys jaw was still on the floor and it took a few seconds for the words to process. All he could do was nod his head. If Jack wanted it done, Rhys was going to prove he could do more than that. Rhys never really admitted or did this in front of anyone, but he knew how to hack the systems with his eye. Rhys scanned and by taking down a couple firewalls, he was in. He didn't need the papers, he didn't need the order numbers, all Jack wanted was the loaders, so Rhys was sending out as many as he could. All that time, Jack watched as Rhys typed away at the computer and with one final enter, they both felt one moonshot go off.

"Done. Anything else?"

Jack slowly went from a growl to smiling like a maniac. 

"Impressive."

Rhys jaw hit the floor again but quickly coughed it off and smirked,

"No big deal. That was nothing."

"Yeah. Okay. Don't get cocky. Thanks anyways kiddo."

Jack swirled around and was off, storming away back to his office. Rhys was glued to his chair smiling from ear to ear. 

"Did that actually just happen?"

Rhys had to say it out loud. Jack didn't say it but he liked Rhys' idea and wanted more loaders. For a moment he thought he was dreaming. Not that he'd admit he dreamed of Jack before but he pinched himself to make sure it was real. His robotic arm pinched pretty hard and caused Rhys to slightly bleed. He shuffled around for a bandaid but could only find ones with Jack's face plastered on them. Of course. Rhys sighed and chuckled to himself. That actually happened. Rhys couldn't wait to tell the others.That day had officially gone from what is happening to the best day ever.

Rhys packed up for the day and sprinted to his small apartment. He nearly busted down the door when he arrived, ready to blurt out his achievement when he stopped dead in his tracks. Snoring on the couch, with his video game still on beeping and making bouncing noises, was Vaughn. Rhys sighed, closed the door, kicked off his shoes and got a blanket for his pal. He turned off the game and just as he grabbed the controller off of Vaughn, he awoke.

"No, I was trying to beat that level."

Rghys shushed, "Go back to sleep."

Vaughn groaned and rolled to sit up, "nooo. It took me weeks to get to that point."

"Always another day bro."

"Not cool bro. Not cool."

It went quiet for a second until Vaughn couldn't keep his smirk from joking around. He laughed it off and sighed, "Works been kicking my ass bro. You know how high the budget jumped today because of this whole vault hunter thing?!"

Rhys grew quiet and tried to laugh it off, knowing that was partly his fault, "I know man. Crazy stuff right?"

"Not to mention the new diamond horse he got. Did you hear about this?! He spent almost a BILLION on it. I can't even comprehend that much money."

Rhys tried to envision what the horse looked like with Jack on it but shook himself out of it.

"That's actually insane. Who knew he even had that much money."

"Who said he even needs money to get what he wants. The guy can do practically anything he wants."

Rhys went over to the kitchen and leaned against the fridge, imagining the freedom Jack had. The power he had. Rhys smirked to himself. One day he'd have something like that. One day. He just had to get closer to Jack. 

"Speaking of Jack. Guess who impressed him today."

Vaughn chuckled, "Of course. His number one fan boy."

Rhys went on to explain the brief exchange him and Jack had. Vaughn nodded his head, rubbing his chin but shrugging, 

"Keep that up and you might actually make a living impact on him. Or you know, you could screw up badly and get shot. One of the two."

"Oh ha-ha bro. Very funny."

Rhys made himself some dinner as Vaughn continued on a rant about work but Rhys' mind kept floating to Jack. He was genuinely impressed. If he kept that up, maybe Vaughn was right, maybe he COULD make an impression. Or he could screw up and die horribly. One of the two.

"So what do you think bro?"

Rhys stood in shock for a moment and quickly tried to play it off, 

"Uh yeah. Cool." 

Vaughn crossed his arms, "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

Rhys walked out and smirked guiltily. Vaughn laughed and sighed, "Probably too busy dreaming up the perfect date of you and Jack"

Rhys nearly spit out his food, coughed and immediately blushed, "No I was - I was thinking about - my next plan - for work."

"Yeah. Huh, sure."

Before Rhys knew it, it was the next day. Same mission. Track down and stop the vault hunters. Jack was laughing to himself, tricking the vault hunters with someone named Angel and Wilhelm. He caught the vault hunters on Sanctuary and planned to kill them then and there. What he didn't expect was for Sanctuary to fly and for Lilith to completely move Sanctuary to an entirely new location. At first his reaction was quiet. Everyone in the room followed. Jack being quiet was never, ever a good sign. All of a sudden he came out of his office nearly screaming and fired off his gun into two employees. Someone stood up and Jack fired into them too. Three killed within the span of seconds. Rhys knew damn well not to move, not to speak and to keep his head down. Rhys could hear Jack heavily breathing after firing. He slowly looked up and saw Jack's back to him. He put his gun away, straightened his hair and twirled around to the remaining men and women. 

"Now the rest of you. Find those vault hunters and send everything. EVERYTHING WE GOT AT THEM!"

No one moved or made a sound. Jack fired and shot the guy next to Rhys. 

"NOW! MOVE IT!"

Everyone had to shake the shock off and immediately got to work. Of course Vasquez was the one to track the vault hunters down. They were by one of Hyperions facilities. Which was perfect. They had men on the ground who could take care of them. But soon they realized it wasn't going to be that easy. The vault hunters tore through the facility and got to the neighboring town where they prepared a beacon for a fast travel to Sanctuary. Now it was Rhys' turn. He hacked the computer with his eye and began sending more loaders down. Each enter was a moonshot fired. That's when Jack came barreling in and was nearly screaming into Rhys' face.

"SEND MORE. SEND CONSTRUCTORS. SEND EVERY GOD DAMN THING WE HAVE AT THEM!"

Rhys didn't respond and quickly began typing. Flashing words from the screen said over budget. It was slowing down his process. Rhys couldn't let this stop him. He hacked it again and overrid the account and continued sending everything. That's when Jack went slightly calmer but sounded on edge.

"Angel, you can stop pretending to help the vault hunters now."

Jack looked towards Rhys and worded quietly, "Keep firing."

Rhys nodded and did just that. He sent loaders, badasses and constructors of every kind. Then all of a sudden Rhys felt a fist collide with his face, and Rhys was on the floor. His nose began to bleed and he immediately started panicking. Rhys carefully tried to stand but felt a kick to his stomach. He groaned in pain and curled into a ball. Jack was hovering over him, sweating and out of breath. 

"Now this ladies and gentlemen is a warning to you all. Fail me again, and you'll all be next. Got it?"

Jack kicked Rhys on his way back to his office. No one helped Rhys up as they all stared not in shock but in fear. Rhys slowly got up, feeling the bruising already forming on his stomach and cheek. His nose continued to bleed but he didn't bother trying to cover it up. He slowly sat back at his chair and looked for information. The vault hunters were now in the moving city of Sanctuary. Jack had lost that day and Jack NEVER lost. Rhys slowly turned off his computer, carefully stood up and limped his way to the nearest bathroom. He went to the sink and began cleaning some of the blood off his face and shirt. Fuck. This was one of his favourite Hyperion shirts too. The blood stain would never wash out. Rhys sighed and continued scrubbing. He turned the tap off once the blood stopped and looked at himself in the mirror. Unsurprisingly, the bruise had begun to form, thankfully on the side of his robotic eye. It'd make him look slightly more badass. Rhys chuckled to himself but smacked himself got serious. He looked in the mirror and pictured Jack. He would never be like him. No. But he would impress him. Oh yes. He was going to make Jack praise him. 


	2. The Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The work never ends at Hyperion. What Rhys doesn't expect is to be one of the remaining employees for Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Skipping along nice and fast and leading to some interesting things.... Hopefully haha

Rhys limped home that night. When he got in Vaughn was in utter shock. 

"Bro, what the hell happened?" 

Rhys tried to wave it off, "It's nothing. Just got banged up a bit." 

Vaughn huffed in disbelief, "OH yeah. Okay. Banged up? Looks like your nose is broken."

Rhys walked into the bathroom to examine the damage again. His nose did look a little off but it didn't feel broken. Rhys sighed and walked to the kitchen, but Vaughn wasn't done. 

"Who beat you up? Was it that asshat Vasquez? Or that jerk... What's his name? He sits right by you." 

Rhys flinched for a moment and sighed as he opened the fridge to pull out some lunch meats, 

"Whoever you're thinking of, they're dead." 

Vaughn went quiet for a moment. Rhys continued to make his sandwich but as soon as he finished, his appetite was no longer there. He sighed and shoved the sandwich in his mouth anyways. 

"Listen, I'm headed to bed. I've had a long ass day and I just need to be refreshed for tomorrow." 

Vaughn nodded and patted Rhys on the back as he walked by. Rhys headed into his room, shut the door and fell into his bed. Rhys finished off the sandwich before he passed out. 

The next morning was more or less the same. Jack yelled orders at everyone, he beat up another lacky, shot another couple people but Rhys was thankfully not one of them. Jack got frustrated and eventually left for a dig sight. He had been digging to the vault of the Warrior. Sounded badass. Rhys only knew this because he hacked the computers again and found files about Jack's newest dealings. They had been digging for a couple years it seemed, and charging some sort of key. 

Rhys didn't read anything further. Some of the files were corrupted and there was a heavy firewall he couldn't break through covering up a few other files. Rhys gave it up and went back to work.

The next few weeks passed and flew by and nothing had really changed. The only big difference was Jack stopped killing people in the office which was a nice change. But that change meant that Jack was up to something. Something good. Rhys could feel it. Of course, nothing good can last. Just as Rhys was packing up for the day, Vasquez stopped Rhys in his tracks,

"Having fun playing puppet master to some robots Rhys?"

Rhys smirked, "As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I am. Now if you don't mind-"

"I do mind. What makes you think your worth Jack's time?"

Rhys crossed his arms and chuckled to himself, "Well, I'm not dead for starters."

"Oh just you wait. He'll see how pointless you are."

Rhys rolled his eyes, "Oh really? And what makes you so special?"

Vasquez smirked, "I just so happen to be one of the main people leading the dig to....well something huge."

"The Warrior. Yeah. Old news. Anything ne-"

Rhys felt the fist in his stomach before he saw it coming. He was bent over but he kept himself standing. Vasquez got close to him and whispered, "The Warrior is just the beginning. Once he's taken over, it'll be bye bye to losers like you."

Rhys glared at Vasquez and tried to punch him in the jaw but he was too slow. Vasquez caught his arm, twisted it until he heard a couple pops. Rhys was thankful it was just his robotic arm. The strength Vasquez had was stupidly incredible. Before Rhys was released, Vasquez pulled his head back and bashed into Rhys. He definitely broke his nose this time. Vasquez let Rhys go and Rhys fell to the floor, his one arm now broken and limp at his side, the other was covering his nose, blood dripping down his hand. That's when he heard a slow clap.

"Well I'll be damned."

The room went silent as Handsome Jack walked towards the two of them. He continued to slow clap all the way to Rhys and Vasquez. 

"Who knew yeah had it in yeah Wallet head! Ha. Man. I need a replay of that. Eh Mia! Get the security footage pulled up!"

Mia hesitated for a moment but nodded and did as instructed. Rhys was spitting the blood away from his face. He stood up awkwardly and tried to leave but Jack stepped in his way, 

"Woah where do you think you're going princess? The show hasn't even begun! Pull it up on the projector Mia."

Jack turned Rhys around to face the screen. There, it replayed the moment. Jack laughed with each pop of Rhys arm and the bashing of his face. 

"Replay that shit again. HA. OH MY GOD!"

Rhys flinched watching it. At least the bleeding was slowing down. 

"Replay just the bash. OUCH. OH! WHAT. A. FORM. WALLET HEAD. MY God you've got good aim."

Vasquez puffed his chest out and proudly smiled, "Thanks. Doesn't take much with him-"

"Yeah yeah. I don't care. But Rhys. Holy shit. You took it like a champ! I mean, the collapse was shit but you didn't even cry!"

Rhys wanted to hide in that moment. He was humiliated and bleeding and just wanting to go to bed forever. Everyone began to clear out but Jack stood in Rhys' way once again. Rhys groaned and looked at Jack, who was all smiles.

"What?"

Jack huffed, "Don't what me! Here I am about to offer you help and you what me!"

Rhys was stunned. Did he just hear that correctly? "You were what?"

"There's that what again. You say what one more time and I'll actually shoot you in the chest."

Rhys went silent. Jack laughed and pointed at him, laughing at his reaction. Jack waved him off and put his arm around Rhys, leading him towards his office. 

"Come on Rhys. Let's get yeah patched up."

Rhys was going to ask why but he worried that would count as a what and just remained quiet. They walked into his huge office, filled with statues of Jack, a display case, Jack's desk, some fountains and a lounge area. Beyond the lounge led into a bedroom area and into a bathroom. Jack put the toilet seat down and patted it. 

"Sit."

Rhys followed instructions. Jack shook his head and laughed again, 

"Obedient. Nice."

Jack shuffled around his medicine cabinet and found a first aid kit. Inside was an Insta health, some bandaids, cotton swabs, wraps and rubbing alcohol. Jack picked up the Insta health and the cotton swabs. Rhys was immediately confused and almost asked the question of what but stopped himself. Getting shot was not on his bucket list. Jack looked at Rhys and examined his nose, twisting Rhys face around for a moment. 

"Alright. So this is gonna hurt like a bitch, but it'll realign your nose before I use the Insta health, kay? Good."

"You're gonna do wh-"

"Ah ta ta ta. Be still kitten."

Jack got two cotton swabs, putting one in each of Rhys' nostrils. 

"Now when I say, you breath in okay?"

Rhys nodded his head. 

"Breath in."

Rhys barely took a breath when all of a sudden Jack pushed in and up on his nose, cracking it back into place. Rhys eyes watered and his entire face went numb with pain. It took a moment but it eventually all hit him at once. 

"Mother fucker!"

Jack slapped Rhys' face gently, "Ah ah. Language."

Rhys felt his nose bleeding again but Jack already had more tissues for him. Before Rhys could complain anymore, Jack slammed the Insta health into his arm, making the pain from his nose no longer the focus. Rhys was about to scream bloody murder but the pain stopped. The blood stopped. Everything was perfectly fine. Rhys touched his face in amusement and almost began laughing. Jack smirked and threw out all the bloody tissues and swabs. 

"A thank you would be nice."

Rhys almost forgot, "Oh right. Uh.. Thank you!"

"Thank you what?"

Rhys paused for a moment, "Um. Thank you sir?"

Jack laughed and slapped his own knee, "Not sir stupid. Handsome Jack."

"Right right. Thank you Handsome Jack!"

Jack smirked and winked at Rhys, 

"That's it. Now about your arm. I'm not exactly an expert but-"

Rhys waved him off, "If you've got the tools I can do it myself."

Jack hummed to himself and nodded. He stood up, went somewhere and came back with a newish looking tool box. Rhys cracked it open and checked off that he had everything he needed. He began fiddling around with his arm but didn't want to admit it was difficult. The entire time he was trying to fix his arm, Jack just stood at the door, watching with his arms crossed and leaning against the door frame. Rhys found it intimidating. He tried twisting his arm back in place but it was hard with one arm. Finally he heard Jack groan and come toward him, 

"Just give it up. You're wasting my time. Tell me what to do."

Rhys hesitated for a moment and almost smirked. But he stopped himself. Yes, he was telling Jack, THE Jack what to do. This was a wild dream. 

"Uh. Just-Uh-twist my arm back. Yeah like that."

Jack snapped it back. Rhys examined the damage and noticed there was a long crack down the side, some wiring was torn. Rhys sighed. This was gonna be a lot harder to explain to someone. 

"Um. Okay so you see that green wire? It needs to be reconnected. This crack however is gonna be a problem. We'll need to weld that shut. Oh and the blue and red wires need to be disconnected and fixed. Oh and the green wire from before? It needs to be disconnected and then the arm needs to be charged, put back on and then reconnected and then you need to-"

Jack groaned, "You know what. Just order yourself a new one."

Rhys didn't want to admit that he was still paying off this arm. He tried to play it cool though. 

"Yeah sure. Just. Order a new one. Get surgery to reconnect it."

Jack rolled his eyes, "If I give you time off and order you a new damn arm, will you please just leave?"

Rhys nodded happily.

"Well go then! New arm will be ordered and you'll have it by tomorrow."

Rhys stood up and wanted to hug Jack for everything but resisted the urge knowing that would cause some great shit.

"Thank you sir-I mean Handsome Jack. Thank you so much!"

Jack waved him off and pushed him out the door, 

"Yeah yeah. You owe me. Oh and Rhys before you go..."

Rhys paused moments away from being out of the office for good. He turned around and Jack was biting his lip, not looking at Rhys. 

"Don't dig into anymore files, mmmkay cupcake? I don't like people knowing my location."

Rhys blushed with embarrassment. He'd been caught. All he could do was nod and leave. 

Sure enough, the next day Rhys' new arm came in. It was Hyperion colours this time. The only thing he was dreading was having to have the surgery to replace it. Surgery freaked him out. The last time he had surgery was because of the incident that got him the arm and the eye in the first place. But Rhys didn't like thinking about that. Not now. Not ever. The surgery was booked a day later so Rhys still had to work but with one less hand which made things interesting. Jack wasn't in the office that morning which seemed odd to Rhys but nobody else seemed to mind. Rhys carefully typed away and wanted to hack to see what Jack was up to but the warning he was given kept him at bay. Not even Vasquez was at work. Double odd. What exactly was going on? Rhys hated not being in the know. Whatever. One more hack wouldn't hurt, right? It wasn't for Jack this time but for Vasquez. And what he found was interesting. He wasnt joking about helping to direct and dig for the warrior but why was he missing today? What was so important? Then Rhys hit a snag. Something about Opportunity and something about a bunker-

Rhys felt a shock and was immediately taken out of the file. The shock continued to grow and Rhys grew nervous, feeling his body start to bounce and his muscles contracted. He backed out of everything and even realized he was now standing, backing away from the computer. The shock finally extinguished but Rhys' body was still jittery. He had never experienced something like that before. Jack wasn't kidding around. Whatever Vasquez was involved with dealt too closely to Jack. Rhys got slightly jealous of that fact but also was still feeling the buzzing in his head from being shocked. Rhys decided to call it a day and headed home early. Besides, his surgery was the next day anyways.

Rhys prepped himself for bed but could barely sleep with the anxiety of the surgery. What if he didn't wake up? What if something bad happened while he was out? All the endless possibilities ran through his head until his alarm to get up was going off. Rhys groaned and turned it off. At least he would get sleep with the surgery. Rhys got dressed as best he could with one arm and ran down to get his surgery. It was a quick change, another awkward dance into a gown and then the surgery prep. Rhys was getting panicked as they started wheeling him into the surgery room. His heart was going out of control, his thoughts grew louder and his eye wouldn't stop scanning every little instrument they had on stand by. Then the doctor came in and had a needle of IV ready for Rhys and had a mask.

"Okay. Time to count to ten Rhys."

Rhys couldn't stop pushing himself.

"One."

What if Jack came to kill him during the surgery for peaking at the files again?

"Two." 

What if Rhys felt everything during the surgery?

"Three." 

What if he did die?!

"Four." 

What if-

"Five...."

Rhys woke in pain. His eye immediately began scanning the room. It was a regular hospital room, door closed, clothes folded on a table, water at his left side, and Jack sleeping on his right..

Jack. 

What the fuck?

Rhys heart immediately panicked and he was wide awake now. He tried to run, get away but his shoulder was still in pain. Rhys dragged himself to the side of the bed and fell out of the bed, landing hard on his one side. He groaned in pain but couldn't find the strength to stand. He began to cry. This was how he would die. On the floor, completely useless and Jack would kill him. This was it. Rhys fucked himself.

"What in the hell are you doing?"

Rhys panicked again and kicked his feet, pushing himself to the side table, 

"I'm sorry!"

Jack stepped closer, anger plastered on his face,

"You're sorry?!"

Rhys was cornered. He had no where else to go. "I swear I was looking into Vasquez! I didn't mean to-the files were there - it was an accident I swear. I'm so fucking sorry-"

"Rhys-"

"It just came up and then the shocking happened and I panicked and I swear I exited out of the files. Hell, I'll make another fire wall for you-"

"RHYS! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Rhys went quiet, tears still streaming down his face. Jack sighed and put out his hand to Rhys, 

"Need help dumb dumb?"

Rhys couldn't believe it. Jack was helping him again?

"UM. What? You're not here to kill me?"

Jack chuckled darkly, "Rhys, if I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be talking right now."

Rhys began laughing. It was just joyful laughing that he was in fact alive and wasn't about to die. Holy shit was he relieved.

"You gonna take my hand or what?"

Rhys grabbed Jack's hand and he used a little bit too much strength and had Rhys knocking into his chest. Rhys was light headed for a moment but realized very quickly that he was standing against Jack's chest. He blushed like mad and immediately wobbled away and landed himself back on the bed. Jack scratched his head and coughed the awkwardness away,

"I came to make sure you didn't die. Had the best doctors working on you."

Rhys was stunned. "Don't take this the wrong way but why exactly do you care?"

Jack huffed and took a moment before answering. 

"I've made up my mind. I took a few days and finally decided. I want you as my assistant. Now don't get all slobbery on me. Yeah yeah. You've done great work, yada yada. I expect you at my desk tomorrow. Got it cupcake?"

Rhys was in disbelief. Rhys wanted to thank Jack, to hug the shit out of him, to practically thank him for everything.

"I just. I don't know how to repay you. "

Jack laughed, "Now you owe me twice. I'll be saving those. Just focus on getting better and I'll see your ass at my desk tomorrow. Kay? Good. Bye."

Rhys didn't have a chance to thank Jack again. Jack was out of there as soon as Rhys was good. What in the hell was today? Not only had Rhys just been promoted but he survived the surgery and he was about to work his dream job. Things couldn't get any better then this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well wasn't that just peachy.


	3. Assistant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys begins his job as Jack's assistant but it soon turns into something more then he bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhys is probably one of my favourites to write. But I put him through so much pain all the time haha warning, this chapter is just a lot of world building. But I promise something good happens at the end 😉

Rhys woke the next morning in pain. His shoulder was still healing and unfortunately no Insta health could heal a full surgery. But it did ease some of the pain. Rhys wasn't fully able to move his robotic arm so he knew he would be mostly working with his regular one. His alarm continued to sound as he laid and stared at his ceiling. Today was a big change. He was Jack's new assistant. Rhys was a mixed bag of excitement and terror. He didn't want to fuck this up. If he did, he knew Jack could easily replace him. And by replace him he meant kill him. But Rhys shook that out of his thoughts as he could hear Vaughn groaning from the other room,

"Rhys, for the love of all things good, please shut your alarm off!"

Rhys jumped into action and decided better now than late. He hopped out of bed and into his tight black jeans, though it was hard with only one arm working properly. He was able to open and close his robotic arm but his shoulder still ached with some movements. Rhys slipped on his light blue dress shirt and had to get Vaughn to help him with his tie and socks. Once he was ready, he admired himself in the mirror and scanned the new arm. All of a sudden a hologram was coming out of the palm of his hand. Well this was new. Rhys looked at the hologram and it was a picture of his arm, giving off some information. Rhys put his hand through the hologram and laughed when he noticed it also gave off light. What else could this arm do, he wondered. But he didn't have time to focus on that. He focused and was able to close the hologram and hurried off to work.

When Rhys entered the office, he noticed it was no longer filled with the few remaining people. In fact, it had been cleared out, all except three desks. One was Hendersons who was the lead on accounting, another was Mia's who had done a lot of work under Jack and was head of sales and last but not least, Rhys' desk. Rhys quickly organized the mess he left his desk in and gathered files he thought might be important to complete but before he had a chance to sit down, his phone went off.

"Rhys. In my office. Don't make me wait."

The others looked over at Rhys not jealously but in worry. Rhys swallowed and took a deep breath. 

"You got this," he told himself out loud. Rhys quickly shuffled away into Jack's office and was greeted with a rush of information from Jack.

"What a night they've had! Looks like the vault hunters are gathering the old crew back together. For what, I couldn't tell yeah but I've got an idea to slow things down. I've been tracking one of their companions down. I just need enough assault force to get the vault hunter away from his.... Pet. What do yeah say, kiddo?"

Rhys was stunned for a moment but immediately nodded, "Yes si-Handsome Jack. With pleasure."

Rhys walked off to get working. 

"And Rhys?"

Rhys paused. Jack walked up to Rhys and handed him a flash drive with a smirk and wink, "Don't take too long cupcake. We don't got much time. Especially with how close I am to the Warrior."

That was the first time Jack officially mentioned the Warrior to Rhys. Rhys nodded and swiftly walked to his desk. He dropped his files into the to do list and immediately plugged the USB in. He pulled up the files and realized the man Jack was tracking was named Mordecai but the target was a bird named Bloodwing. Rhys began reading files into both and realized the vault hunters made contact with him already. Rhys groaned and scratched his head. How would he separate the bird from his master? Rhys slowly thought of an assault plan. Mordecai had been keeping watch on one city, sending a fleet there could be quite the shake up. Rhys scanned the computer and did most of the work with his eye, typing slowly with his one functioning hand. Mordecai and his bird worked together as a team so it would take more then one assault to get them separated. Rhys thought about sending two separate fleets down but the budget error was flashing in his eye. He had limited access? Rhys groaned to himself and tried to think of a way without using too many loaders. He could send a constructor but that would be the budget right there. One constructor could only do so much in a fight and the vault hunters already showed they could take them down. Rhys scrambled in his mind and tried to think. He could send the constructor but it would cause a lot of attention especially with being launched down. He could send it far enough to build some loaders? Maybe that would work but not for long. Rhys locked in a constructor and the flashing warning for the budget appeared again. He had little to no money left. Hiring assassins would only go so far and they were expensive. What about some of the workers they already had in the field? Rhys contacted a few offices and finally he hit gold. There was a wildlife preservatory in a city not too far from Mordecai's position. Rhys could move the workers and loaders from there and have them take Bloodwing. It was perfect! Rhys typed a proper request and made sure to include that it was urgent and an order from Handsome Jack himself. Rhys hit send, sent out the Constructor and within minutes, the land team got back and were ready to take on Mordecai and would echo Rhys updates. Rhys lifted his arm in victory. But it wasn't over yet. Executing the actual plan was the hardest part. The constructor was on the ground and by the looks of it, it gained some bandit attention which Rhys hadn't taken into account. Thankfully it had enough loaders active that it took them down. But would it be enough to attract Mordecai? Rhys began to sweat as the team echoed in that they were just reaching the constructor. Minutes dragged on as Rhys waited with anticipation. His shoulder throbbing with each fast heart beat. Finally, they echoed in saying a sniper had arrived and was picking the team off. Rhys groaned and echoed back,

"Hide by the constructor!"

Rhys didn't hear any response back and grew even more worried, legs bouncing with each passing moment. Finally someone answered the echo, "I think he's coming out of hiding. Wait- STOP THAT BIRD!"

The echo went dead once again and nothing Rhys did now would matter. He had no budget left, he had no men left to send and he was out of time. Rhys panicked and tried to echo in again, "Please update..."

Radio silence. 

Rhys panicked, stood up and began pacing. The others seemed to be watching Rhys with curiosity. Rhys couldn't believe he'd just failed his first task as assistant. Rhys was a goner. His heart began to race and his arm continued to ache. God, he wished it would just-

"We-fuck-we got the bird. We're headed back to base now - would you hold still?!"

Rhys let out a long sigh of relief and immediately ran to Jack's office to give him updates but Jack was nowhere to be found. 

"Jack?"

His voice echoed the empty office. Where had he gone? Rhys sighed and went back to his desk and began working on the to do pile. He looked at the clock and realized he had used his whole day as it was time to pack up. Rhys felt hesitant to leave without giving Jack any updates. Rhys decided to head into Jack's office and left a note on his desk for him. He noticed a frame with a photo of a girl with dark hair and she looked similar to Jack. Rhys scanned the photo but his eye glitched and didn't give him any information. He tried a couple times but nothing was appearing. Whoever she was, Jack did a good job of hiding her.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Rhys jumped and immediately stood at attention. Jack was storming towards him. Rhys panciked,

"I-I can explain. I was j-just leaving a note-"

Jack slammed the frame down, hiding it from Rhys' gaze and immediately back handed Rhys. Rhys stumbled a few feet but remained standing. Jack was standing right by Rhys, digging his finger into Rhys' chest,

"Never come into my office when I'm not here, got it? Now get the hell outta here!"

Rhys rubbed his cheek but didn't move, "I just wanted to update you on-"

"GET OUT!"

Rhys stumbled past Jack and ran for the exit. Before he made a clear exit, he shouted back, "We got Bloodwing."

Jack's frown turned into a devilish smile, "Well why didn't you say so! Did yeah kill it?"

Rhys hesitated. Was he supposed to? "N-no."

Jack growled and nearly ran at Rhys again but Rhys blurted out, "They took the bird to the Wildlife Preservatory!"

Jack stopped inches away from Rhys. He was huffing out of breath, still scowling. 

"Why the hell would we-"

Then Jack went quiet. It was like a light bulb went off in his brain.

"Oh Rhysie! This is perfect!"

Jack walked back to his desk, leaving Rhys lost and confused, "I'm sorry?"

Jack laughed, "Rhys, can you check to see if the skags are still being experimented on in that place?"

Rhys nodded and went to leave but Jack went on, "Ah ta ta kitten. Your eye. Do it from here."

Rhys swallowed and used his eye to scan his computer for information. Within seconds, he was pulling up a file on the preservatory and to his surprise, there were tons of experiments going on in that place. Skags were being exposed to slag and injected with eridium. Some of the photos Rhys passed he wished he'd never seen. It was disgusting what they were doing.

"It appears experiments are still happening."

Jack clapped his hands together, "Perfect. I've got a date with good ol' Bloodwing. You keep an eye on the other vault hunters and I want you to make sure they find Bloodwing."

Now Rhys was lost, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Do as I say, Rhys."

Jack stormed off and entered into the fast travel. Rhys was lost but made sure to leave an open echo for the vault hunters to find, leading them directly to the preservatory. With that, Rhys decided to head home. Whatever Jack had planned, it wasn't any good. But Rhys did good, right? Jack seemed happy about the situation and Rhys was still breathing so clearly he had done something right.

A few days had passed and Jack finally returned from Pandora. Rhys had been sitting around, waiting for any updates but nothing came in. All Rhys knew was the vault hunters were on their way to find Bloodwing. Jack immediately called Rhys in and Rhys didn't waste any time getting to the office. Rhys kept his distance just in case but made his presence known,

"What can I do for you?"

Jack clapped and rubbed his hands together, 

"We're so goddamn close to the Warrior I can taste it. But there's a problem. Looks like the vault hunters are trying to get the vault key. And we need to stop them by every means necessary. If they some how survive--well, I don't wanna spoil the surprise but if they do survive their next challenge, they'll be one step closer to getting the key. So Rhys, I need more back up plans. I need security that they won't get far after they KILL-OH! Almost spoiled the surprise."

Rhys was slightly confused by what Jack meant by surprise but he went along with it. 

"Okay. Extra security. I can do that but the budget."

Jack rolled his eyes and groaned, "Right. The budget. HENDERSON!"

A few seconds passed and Henderson came running into the office. 

"Yes?"

Jack frowned and crossed his arms, "I need you to crunch some numbers and expand the budget for today."

Henderson hummed to himself, bit his lip and tapped his left foot, "Jack, we already went-"

"Handsome Jack."

Henderson stumbled, "Right. Handsome Jack, we already went over budget from the last excursion. We can't keep doing this or Hyperion will very well dig its own grave."

Jack smirked darkly and began walking towards Rhys and Henderson, "Listen. You can either extend the budget, find a way to make it work or YOU'LL be digging your own grave. Got it pumpkin head?!"

Henderson nodded and didn't speak another word. He left the office. Jack was standing close to Rhys. Rhys stared at the floor but he could feel Jack's eyes turning to him.

"That solve that issue for you, cupcake?"

Rhys nodded without looking up, "Yes sir."

Jack laughed deeply and walked even closer to Rhys until his mouth was by Rhys' ear. Jack whispered, 

"Call me sir one more time, and I'll rip your tongue out."

Jack moved only inches away and stared at Rhys, waiting for a response. All Rhys could do was nod. Jack smiled and clapped Rhys on the back,

"Glad we got that straight. Now, go on. Get that security set up for me."

Rhys nodded again and almost ran out of the office. He slammed into his desk and began looking into the vault hunters. What exactly did Jack have planned for them? Whatever it was, Rhys needed to have a back up plan. They were headed to the Wildlife preservatory, so Rhys would make sure to send in loaders, constructors and more to make sure they didn't get out of there. Rhys punched in the numbers and the budget warning came up. Rhys groaned and looked over to Hendersons desk. He was typing away and practically scrambling from what Rhys could tell. Rhys sighed and knew the pressure he was under so he decided to take a lunch break to give the guy more time. By the time he got back, Henderson seemed in lighter spirits. Rhys scanned the computer and tried to order the bots again and this time, no budget warning. Rhys smirked,

"Henderson, awesome job man."

Henderson jolted at the noise but realized it was just Rhys and sighed.

"My pleasure Rhys. Just be careful please. It's not much of an extention to budget but it should be enough to get you by."

Rhys nodded and did what he could. He had the orders ready for when the vault hunters tried to leave the preservatory, the bots would be fired in. Now for plan b. What if they got by those loaders? There wasn't much they could do if they got back to Sanctuary, but they were bound to do more on land. Especially if they were going after the key. Rhys scanned and typed away as he hit a snag. What exactly would be their next steps? Rhys tapped his foot, and bit his lip in concentration. He pulled up the files on the vault hunters and started going through them. They had Axton, commander, fighter and engineer. They had Maya, a siren, skilled and deadly with a single flick of her wrist. They had the maniac Gunzerker Salvador, and the stealthy assassin Zero. They had a smart techy like Rhys named Gaige and a psycho named Krieg who could easily blend in with other bandits. They had Roland, a leader, a soldier and one hell of a fighter. They had the firehawk, Lilith, a siren and powerful enough to move a town. They had Mordecai, one of the most talented snipers and planners. But someone was missing in action.

"Brick."

Rhys dug further into the files but Brick's last known location was unknown. Shit, Rhys thought. He may not have known where he was, but he could certainly prepare for the next time he came into the spotlight. Brick was a heavy hitter, and was better at using his fists more than anything. Smashing bots would take some energy out of that. They could use beacons to send in some missiles. Rhys ordered and prepped everything for plan b. Now onto a plan c. Would they really need a plan C after all of this? Rhys chuckled to himself and didn't doubt his skills. There was no way they were getting through all of this without injury. By the time Rhys finished up the plans, it was time to head out.

As usual, Rhys got home and played some video games with Vaughn. He made some dinner and was off to bed for the next day. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard his echo going off. Rhys groaned and looked over at his bedside table. He took the echo and mumbled out, 

"Hello?"

"Wake up Rhysie."

Rhys nearly jumped out of bed at the sound of Jack. By the sound of it, Jack seemed happier than usual. Rhys stumbled with the echo and quickly responded, 

"I'm up. What do you need?"

Jack laughed, "I need your ass in my office in five. Hurry up kitten. This is gonna be good."

Rhys jumped out of bed and didn't even bother trying to get changed in time, especially with one arm properly working. Rhys slipped on his shoes and ran out to Jack's office. It was weird being there after hours and it was oddly quiet, except the loud jazzy music coming from Jack's office. Rhys slowly walked in and found Jack dancing around his desk, swaying and bouncing around, smiling from ear to ear. Rhys couldn't help but to smile and gently chuckle to himself. Rhys entered further in and Jack finally noticed him, as he couldn't hear anything over the music. 

"Rhys! Just in time."

Jack muted the music and waved Rhys over. Rhys walked towards the desk but made sure to keep out of arms length just in case. Jack turned the windows into monitors and there, they were watching security footage. Rhys looked up and noticed the vault hunters. They were still fighting through the wildlife preservatory. Jack walked beside Rhys and nudged him,

"Just wait kitten. It's about to get a whole lot messed up!"

Jack chuckled with excitement. Rhys smiled and enjoyed this side of Jack. They watched as the vault hunters got closer to one of the main observation wings of the preservatory. Jack echoed in to the vault hunters, 

"Want Bloodwing back huh? Shame. I've been doing some really interesting Eridum experiments with her. Hate to see her go but heck with it. She's all yours."

At that moment, Bloodwing was released but she wasn't acting normal. She was attacking anything and everything around her, including the vault hunters. He could hear them panic as they began to fight her. Mordecai on the other hand was freaking out at Jack. Jack laughed at the display and Rhys couldn't believe it. So that was the big surprise. As they continued to fight, Jack showed off some of the differences with Bloodwings abilities, how she could use flames, corrosive damage, electricity but he kept stumbling on what the last one was.

"What am I forgetting?! Come on, what is left..."

Just as the vault hunters had taken her down, Jack jumped up on his desk and sat down in excitement.

"Oh now I remember, EXPLOSIVE!"

In that moment, Bloodwing's head exploded. Rhys felt his stomach turn and could hear Mordecai's scream from the other end of the echo. Jack was practically bouncing with joy. But he stopped for a moment and got serious, 

"THAT is why you don't screw with me. You and your little friend Mordecai turn yourselves in or that dumbass bird is just the beginning."

Jack turned to Rhys, "You got your next plan ready because they are heading out and I don't want them getting out of there alive, or at least get them seriously injured."

Rhys nodded his head and executed the plan he had set up. The loaders and other bots were fired down at the wink of Rhys' eye. Jack clapped and continued to echo the vault hunters,

"Oh where the hell is... Ugh I had a violin somewhere. I was gonna play it all sarcastically, goddammit, it was gonna be awesome. RHYS! WHERE'S A BLOODY VIOLIN?!"

Rhys scrambled and looked into Jack's room. He found one sitting near the end of his bed. He ran out and overheard Jack continue to echo the vault hunters,

"Woooaahh. You didn't think you were gonna get out of here alive, did yeah?"

Rhys watched as the bots he sent all started attacking the vault hunters. He stood by Jack and presented the violin. Jack was all teeth, grinning wide. 

"Perfect Rhys. Okay vault hunters. Found it. Alright. This is a song for Mordecai's stupid bird. In E."

Jack positioned the violin and began playing terribly. Rhys cringed at the noise but Jack was determined. He growled and threw the violin down, sending it crashing and shattering on the ground, 

"Alright. Y'know what screw you, it would've been HILARIOUS if I'd found it earlier. Shut up!"

Jack hopped down from the desk and tossed the echo down onto the desk. He flicked the monitors off and began pacing around, jumping up and down, laughing and smirking at Rhys, 

"I haven't felt this good in a long time. I've got so much freaking energy. I could... I could do anything right now!"

Rhys laughed along with Jack, still feeling slightly sick with what he just witnessed. But he forced a smirk anyways, "What would you like to do?"

Jack looked at Rhys and paused for a moment. Then all of a sudden, he came at Rhys, sending Rhys stumbling back for a moment until Jack grabbed Rhys around the waist and planted a kiss onto his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to pick it up in the next chapter ;D


	4. Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Rhys have a moment together. Rhys gets confused by everything and evaluates the situations he's in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting bussssyyyy woooop! Smut incoming ;D

Jack's lips locked onto Rhys and he froze. His eyes were wide open, staring at Jack, completely lost. He pushed back against Jack with his good arm and attempted to step back. Finally Jack released him. Jack was somewhat smiling but Rhys could read the confusion on his face, 

"What Rhysie?"

Rhys was stunned. He didn't know what to do or say and his body was reacting in various ways. He definitely wasn't expecting this, and part of him wanted to see where it was going but another part was terrified. What in the hell was happening? He tried to word something together but before he had a chance, Jack was back at his lips. This time Rhys closed his eyes, believing it was a dream but when he opened them, there they were, lips locked in Jack's office. Jack wrapped his arms around Rhys' waist and pulled Rhys closer. Rhys gently pulled his head back and was released once again. 

"Jack?" 

Jack stared at Rhys, inches away from each other. His eyes were focused on Rhys' mouth. 

"Come on, let's fool around! Man, I've got so much energy! I need to get rid of it somehow." 

Rhys chuckled softly, "Don't normal people go for runs or something?" 

Jack chuckled back, "I'm far from normal."

Jack went to lean in again but this time Rhys held his ground and pushed back, 

"Jack, just think for a moment."

Jack growled back, "I did. You owe me, Rhys." 

Rhys swallowed, "But this?" 

Jack nodded, "Hell yeah. Not like you've never dreamed of it, huh?" 

Rhys hesitated which made Jack laugh, "Gotcha kitten." 

Jack leaned down and caught Rhys' mouth in his again. Who was Rhys kidding? He'd definitely had dreamt of something along these lines. Hell, it was something he'd secretly jerked off to. But for Jack to say he owed him made Rhys feel slightly uncomfortable. And yet, here he was, giving in completely.

Finally, Rhys kissed back, lapping his tongue against Jack's. The second he accepted, the closer Jack pulled him in, wrapped into him and captured his every movement. Jack released only for a moment. He helped Rhys out of his shirt, pulling it against himself and throwing it to the floor. Jack began biting at Rhys lips, kissing against his jaw, neck and shoulder. Rhys hissed when Jack hit his injured shoulder. Rhys pushed back slightly.

"Ouch!"

Jack laughed and gently kissed the injured shoulder, "Feel better?" 

Rhys blushed at the sight and nodded. Jack was making him melt and there was nothing that could be said or done that would change that. 

Jack slowly turned the two of them around and pushed Rhys into his desk. Rhys landed a bit roughly against it but the pain was gone as soon as Jack was back at his lips. Rhys lifted his good arm and wrapped it around Jack's neck, rubbing it softly and sending goosebumps through Jack's body. Rhys pulled Jack deeper into him. Jack leaned in and pushed Rhys back to the point where Rhys had to sit on the desk to keep his balance. Jack smiled through their kiss as if that was his plan. He captured Rhys and began biting his bottom lip again. This time he went the other way, bit into Rhys jaw, kissing and licking down it, down his neck, biting into it and then bit at his uninjured shoulder. He peppered kisses onto it and went back to his neck, to his jaw and right back to Rhys' lips. Rhys could feel himself growing hot, even with his shirt off and the air conditioning running high. Rhys tried to remove Jack's jacket but only succeeded half way with his one good arm. Jack broke their kiss again and practically tore it off, throwing it to the side with a hard clunk. Jack pushed against Rhys' legs, separating them so he stood between them. He put each hand on a separate leg and rubbed them as he captured Rhys lips, bringing his hands up Rhys" thigh the deeper their kiss became. Rhys didn't expect to but he moaned through their kiss. Jack chuckled,

"We're not there yet, Rhysie."

Rhys was out of breath, "Can-can we get there?"

Jack raised his eyebrow at him and chuckled, "Kinky."

Jack placed his hands on Rhys ass and pushed Rhys towards him. Rhys was getting hard and he could feel Jack was too. Jack watched Rhys looking over the two of them and practically drooled at the admiration Rhys was giving him. He grabbed Rhys face,

"Eh kitten. Look at me?"

Rhys looked up, eyes somewhat glossy. Jack smiled and Rhys smirked back. This time, Rhys pushed into Jack's lips. Rhys wrapped his arm around Jack's neck and was grinding into him gently. Jack chuckled darkly and filled Rhys' mouth with his tongue, grinding back ever so gently. As they continued to make out, Jack placed his hands on Rhys' ass and lifted him up, carrying him. Jack led them carefully into his room, shutting the door with one foot and placing Rhys on the bed. The room was dark so Rhys held onto Jack to make sure he didn't lose him. Jack leaned into Rhys, kissing and biting, until Rhys was fully laying on the bed. Jack moved down with him, kissing down his neck, shoulder and then he surprised Rhys by moving to one of his nipples. Rhys sighed as Jack gently licked around one and bit gently into it. Rhys hummed at the sensation. Jack continued placing kisses along Rhys, kissing down further towards Rhys stomach, and stopped just above his pj pants.

"Time to get rid of these."

Rhys chuckled and went to remove them when Jack whacked his hand away. 

"Ah ta ta. I'm controlling this, mmmkay?"

Rhys nodded, realizing Jack probably couldn't see and quickly responded, "Oh. Okay. Yeah. You-"

Jack cut him off by slowly untying his pj pants and painfully slow took them off. He hooked his fingers and reached Rhys' underwear and took them off along with his pants. Jack put them as low as Rhys ankles and stopped. He began kissing Rhys' inner thigh and got so close to where Rhys wished his mouth was. Rhys brought his hand to his mouth and bit into his fist to stop himself from moaning. Jack kissed back up Rhys stomach, up to his neck and back to his lips.

"You ready Rhys?"

Rhys hummed and nodded again, "Y-yeah."

Jack sighed, "Yes what?"

Rhys knew what Jack wanted and practically purred his name out softly, "Handsome Jack."

Jack hummed and chuckled. "That's it kitten. Now, turn around."

Rhys was confused for a moment but quickly cleared the fog from his brain. He was so aroused he couldn't understand simple instructions. He rolled over onto his good arm and landed on his stomach. His robotic arm lay by his side while Jack took his good arm and raised it above Rhys' head. That's when Rhys felt one of Jack's fingers entering him. Rhys hissed at the sudden intrusion.

"Relax Rhysie."

Rhys took a breath in and tried to relax, "You could've warned me."

Jack chuckled and continued to insert his finger, pushing it all the way in and slowly taking it out and repeated. Rhys focused on their breathing and began relaxing. Soon, Jack was able to insert without problem. Then, he inserted another finger. Rhys couldn't stop the moan this time. Jack brought his lips to Rhys and whispered in his ear, 

"Barely begun and you're already losing it, eh Rhysie?"

Rhys nodded and felt Jack's lips onto his again, moaning against them as Jack inserted yet another finger. Rhys couldn't help himself and began bucking onto Jack's fingers. Suddenly, Jack slapped his free hand onto Rhys' ass, sending a jolt through Rhys, causing him to whimper.

"What the hell?!"

"I set the pace Rhys."

Rhys stopped moving and let Jack move as he wanted. Just when he thought he would stop, Jack forced in one more finger. Rhys groaned hard, focusing on not moving and letting Jack do all the work. Just as Rhys felt himself grow hard against the mattress, Jack released him. Rhys felt empty and sighed loudly. He couldn't see anything but he could hear the click of Jack's belt as he undid it and took his pants off. Jack reached over and popped open lube which he spread along his dick. Rhys licked his lips at the thought and purred his name, 

"Jaacckkk..." 

"I'm coming kitten. I'm comin..."

Rhys felt Jack straddle him, kissing the back of his neck, when all of a sudden he felt his tip enter him. Rhys moaned and felt that Jack was big. He just wasn't expecting him to be THIS big. Slowly, Jack held onto Rhys' good hand above his head, and carefully began inserting himself. With each inch, Jack was huffing out and Rhys had his mouth open but nothing was able to escape. Finally, he felt the touch of Jack's stomach and knew he was fully in him. Jack was out of breath and so was Rhys. They both chuckled at the realization. Slowly, Jack started pulling out. Rhys hissed at the movement but focused on breathing. Jack fully exited him before reinserting, this time inserting ever so slightly faster. Rhys couldn't stop the moans that escaped.

"God damn Rhys, you're so tight."

Rhys moaned, "Jacckkk..."

"Say my full name."

Jack fully exited again and this time slammed into Rhys. Rhys gasped at the sudden force and felt his body tremble. 

"Say my God damn name Rhys!"

Rhys could barely say it, "H-h-handso-me. J-ack."

"Thats it, Rhysie. Fuck, you feel so good."

Jack fully exited Rhys again and slammed into him, repeating it a couple times and couldn't help but moan. He squeezed onto Rhys' hand and balanced himself by placing his other hand on Rhys' hips. Once he was fully in Rhys, he began slowly grinding into him, setting a slow pace. Rhys felt his dick rubbing against the mattress and was already so close.

"J-jacckk. I'm gonna-"

Jack slapped his ass again, "Don't you dare!"

Rhys almost came from the hit alone but focused as much as he could on their breathing. Jack slowly began picking up the pace. 

"Mmmmm Rhys. I'm gonna-I'm gonna wreck you."

Rhys felt chills all throughout his body and straight to his dick. If Jack didn't stop, he was going to come. 

"Jack-"

He slapped Rhys again, "What did I say?!"

Rhys groaned, "H-hands-ome Jack."

"That's it Rhysie. Say my name..."

Jack began to pick up the pace, grunting with each push. Rhys felt Jack stretch out his good arm and placed it against the headboard. Rhys grabbed it, feeling it now move with them, as Jack released his hand and placed both hands on Rhys' hips. He tightly gripped Rhys and began pounding into him.

"Rhys..."

Rhys moaned, "Hand-some Jack."

Jack began to go faster. 

"Fuck-fuck Rhysie."

The headboard started banging gently against the wall. Rhys was drooling and could feel his dick throbbing. He was going to come.

"J-ack! FUCK H-AN-DS-OME JACK!"

Rhys' eyes rolled into his head, he moaned loudly and came onto the mattress. His ass clenched around Jack's dick and Jack chuckled darkly, slapping Rhys' ass a couple of times,

"I- warned yo-u Rhys. I'm going to f-u-cking wreck - y-oo-u!"

Rhys began to shake as Jack continued to fuck him. He was so sensitive and groaned in the sensation,

"That's - that's too much - Jaaaccckkk!"

Jack laughed, groaned and continued pumping in and out of Rhys, "I fuckin told you Rhysie."

Jack pounded harder and faster into Rhys and Rhys couldn't keep the moans down. He was practically screaming from the overwhelming sensation. 

"J-J-J-A-A-C-K-K!"

The headboard began slamming into the wall harder this time as Jack slammed in and out of Rhys. Rhys was growing hard again but it wasn't going to last long.

"Jaaaccckkk."

Jack slapped his ass a couple times, "Say my name Rhysie. Say my full goddamn name Rhys!" 

Rhys groaned, "Hand-handsome - Handsome Jack! Fuck me! Oh my God...."

Jack was becoming sporadic in his movements. He was getting close. 

"Rhysie...fuck...say my name..." 

Rhys moaned as he could feel his hardness on the mattress again, 

"Handsome - J-a-ck." 

"Say it." 

"Handsome Jack!"

"SAY IT RHYSIE!" 

Rhys was on the edge again, "H-hands-ome goddamn Jack!"

Jack groaned loudly as he slammed harder and harder into Rhys, completely out of pace. Rhys moaned and repeated Handsome Jack until he couldn't anymore. His mouth hung open, unable to say anything as he felt his eyes roll into the back of his head again. Jack was heavily breathing, softly whispering Rhys' name until he grew louder and louder, 

"Rhys. Rhys! Fuck RHYSIE!" 

Rhys couldn't help himself this time, "Jack!" 

But Jack didn't seem to care. He was ready. 

"Rhys! SAY IT!" 

"JACK! JACK PLEASE!" 

Jack was shaking the whole bed, "Please what!" 

Rhys moaned loudly, echoing throughout the room, "JACK-PLEASSSEEE - COME!"

"GODDAMMIT!" 

Jack came in Rhys with a groan. He continued to rock in and out of Rhys until he was fully done. Rhys came again onto the bed with a loud moan of nonsense. 

The bed went still. All that could be heard were the fast heart beats of the two of them and the loud breathing. Slowly, Jack pulled out of Rhys and laid onto the bed. Rhys let go of the headboard and gently rolled back over beside Jack. He stared towards Jack, just able to see the dark outline of his chest rising and falling with each deep breath. 

"Well?" 

Rhys wasn't expecting Jack to speak. Rhys stumbled to find words but before he had a chance, Jack spoke again, 

"You gonna leave or what?" 

Rhys was confused, "Ummm. What?" 

Jack laughed, "Go on."

Rhys laid there for a moment, completely lost. Until Jack poked his side, "Time to Go."

Rhys sat up and pulled his pants back on. He carefully stood, feeling like his legs were jello and slowly left the room. Just as he got to the door Jack yelled back, 

"Oh right and thanks. Yeah know. For this." 

Rhys felt ridiculous. He blushed in shame and left. He scrambled to find his shirt and quickly left for his place. Whatever just happened, Rhys was completely lost on. He just got fucked by his boss. He just had sex with Handsome Jack. He should be ecstatic and yet part of him felt used. He got into his place and immediately hopped into the shower, washing his and Jack's come off his body. What the fuck just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was as good as I envisioned it. Hahaha. But also, starting to pick things up bit by bit.


	5. Last Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys struggles with the events between him and Jack but he doesn't have time to dwell as work becomes hectic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is such a messy chapter I'm so sorry. But Poor Rhysie. But now back to work

Rhys woke up the next morning, ass slightly in pain from all the smacking and well, from the fucking. Rhys groaned as he saw it was time to get up for work. He didn't want to face Jack after having a one night stand. Rhys had never had one and it was messing with his mind. He had a nightmare that Jack was fucking him but then he shot Rhys after they were done. Was that going to happen today? Was Jack done with Rhys?

As much as Rhys didn't want to find out, he knew he'd have to face the music eventually. He stumbled into his clothes, and was able to move his robotic arm a bit more. Rhys smirked and flexed the hand a few times before exiting his room and made his way to the office. His anxiety was a bit higher than usual but he did his best to stay calm and that it was just another regular day at the office. Or so he thought.

Rhys attempted to sneak into his desk and tried not to bring any unwanted attention his way. He waved to the others and took his place but as soon as he sat down, Jack was calling Rhys in. 

"Hey Rhysie, got a little job for yeah, muffin."

The others seemed to not react to the call, which Rhys was relieved about. He quickly hurried along and entered Jack's office. He noticed Jack sitting back in his chair, feet up on his desk. He was in the middle of some call, while cleaning one of his guns. Rhys tensed at the sight but took a breath before stepping to Jack's desk.

"Eh fucko! Not you dumbass. Just get the beacons in place. Okay, Rhysie. Your turn."

Rhys nodded even though he had zero clue what was going on. Jack continued, 

"I've got one of the crew, undercover, laying beacons down for you. I need you to use the beacons, fire some heavy fire power down on them and send loaders, badasses, whatever we've got. I don't want them surviving and I don't care if it gets the crew member killed, just aim for the beacons, got it?"

Rhys nodded, went to head to his desk when he paused, "Is this to kill the vault hunters?"

Jack finished cleaning his gun and clicked it into place. He aimed it at Rhys, making him flinch, but pretended to fire it. "It better kill them Rhys."

Rhys swallowed his dry throat and quickly got to work. He typed away and used his eye to get the orders faster. He was able to connect to the beacons and sent down mortars as requested. He waited for the right time and tracked the vault hunters position as best he could but then they started destroying the beacons. The mortars were going to lose their destination. Rhys grinded his teeth, trying to send loaders down quickly to combat the vault hunters. How they were still alive, Rhys had no clue. They were incredibly tough, Rhys admitted to himself. He could hear Jack over the echos,

"Goddammit bots. Get them away from the beacons!"

Rhys was doing everything he could and sent down a couple constructors but the budget started flashing. How was he already getting close to budget?! Jack continued to yell through the echos,

"Awe come on, how hard is it to wipe out vault hunters and a walking slab of meat? GET EM!"

Rhys continued to send down more loaders, badasses, everything he could. But he was sending out more than they had ready. Rhys groaned in frustration and slammed his desk. This wasn't the time to not have loaders. He quickly scanned around, hacked into the system to see if there were any loaders uncounted for. Thankfully, there was one shipment just finishing up. Rhys nearly ripped it off the assembly line and fired it down to fight. But it didn't fire in time. Once again, the vault hunters got away. Rhys slammed his desk, his computer, his keyboard, whatever he could get his hands on. The others stared at him, completely lost for words. Rhys was out of breath when he heard the click of a gun being prepared to fire. He froze, looked up and saw Jack aiming the gun right between his eyes. Rhys knew he screwed up,

"Jack, please, don't do this-"

The gun fired. Rhys eyes snapped shut but he didn't feel anything except ringing in his ears. He slowly opened his eyes and found Jack had moved the gun and killed Mia. Rhys stomach turned as Jack continued to stare at Rhys.

"Screw up again, and you'll wish you were dead."

Jack didn't give Rhys any time to mumble or speak as he stormed back into his office. Rhys finally breathed out the breath he was holding and began to panic. He felt his whole body begin to shake and he knew he was about to have a panic attack. Rhys ran out of the office, tried to make it to the bathroom but didn't make it in time and began puking in the hall. One of the robot janitors started cleaning up but Rhys didn't want to see any robot or person. He ran into the bathroom, slammed the stall door shut, locked it and sat on the toilet. He held his head in his hands and began crying. Rhys was completely lost. Because of him, someone else died. The warning Jack gave him played through his head over and over again. The more he thought about it, the more he began to panic. Rhys needed help. He used his eye and called the one person who could help.

"Vaughn? Pl-please don't te-tell anyone."

Vaughn could hear the panic in Rhys' voice,

"What's going on?"

Rhys wiped his eyes and tried to calm down, "I al-most died a m-moment ago. Can y-ou please get ov-er here?"

Vaughn didn't hesitate, "Where you at bro? I'll be there in a few."

Rhys did his best to give instructions as Vaughn had never been to that area before. A few long minutes later and Vaughn was knocking on the bathroom door,

"Rhys, buddy? You in here?"

Rhys got up from the toilet, opened the stall door and ran at his friend, giving him the biggest bro hug imaginable. Vaughn chuckled and held his buddy close, 

"It's okay bro. I got you."

Rhys continued to cry in his friends arms, mumbling and blabbering what had happened as best he could. Vaughn let Rhys go and stared at him for a moment, almost expecting him to disappear right before his very eyes. 

"You're walking on eggshells Rhys. You've got to be careful. You knew getting close to Jack would be dangerous."

Rhys wiped his eyes, "I know, I know. But I didn't expect it to escalate so quickly. I mean, what's next? What exactly am I supposed to do? I keep running out of resources, I keep going over the budget, who knows what else I've fucked up-"

"So you're the one that keeps hitting the limits. We've been trying to figure it out. Keeps coming up encrypted and unknown. Listen, if that's one of the issues, I got you. You just echo me when you need, and I shift around a few numbers here and there and boom. You've got yourself more wiggle room."

Rhys was stunned, "You would seriously do that for me?"

Vaughn smirked and patted Rhys' shoulder, "Just promise me the next party that comes up, you'll get me in."

Rhys chuckled and ran at his friend, squeezing him into the biggest hug, lifting him in the air for a moment, then releasing him. "Vaughn, you can have anything. Oh my God this is a huge relief."

Vaughn chuckled, "Just be careful. Anyways, we should probably head home. And you should seriously get some anxiety medication or something."

Rhys had been meaning to for a long time but he hated the nurses there at Hyperion. It certainly wasn't like home. For now, Rhys packed it in, and left with his buddy for home. 

"ALERT. EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY."

Rhys stumbled out of bed and almost had a heart attack at the sound blaring in every direction all around the station. Rhys didn't bother getting dressed and ran out to find Vaughn just as panicked. They headed outside to find everyone scrambling and lost as to what was happening until Jack's voice came in clear, 

"Everyone, battle stations now! They want a war, we're gonna give them one."

Rhys and Vaughn waved to each other goodbye as they headed for work. Rhys ran as quick as he could to the office, tripping on the way and nearly colliding with Vasquez. What was he doing there? Rhys sat at his desk, waiting for more direction as to what he should be doing. Vasquez walked right by straight to Jack's office with the biggest smirk on his face. Rhys grinded his teeth but was alerted when he heard Jack call his name. Rhys entered the office and stood behind Vasquez just in case.

"You positive this Bunker is gonna work, Wallet head?"

Vasquez nodded and still had the biggest smirk plastered across his face, "Positive. Nothings getting by that."

Jack huffed, "Yeah sure. I'll believe it when I see it. Rhys? You get some turrets deployed and protecting the Bunker for as long as you can. If they get through this, we're gonna have some serious issues."

Rhys nodded and didn't wait to be dismissed. He ran for his computer and Jack sent the Bunkers location to Rhys. He quickly started punching in orders and was able to get turrets to the Bunker just as the vault hunters were arriving. The Bunker, thankfully had some defenses of its own in place. As much as Rhys hated admitting it, the Bunker was pretty damn good. With each turret destroyed, lasers formed around the field, attacking those within the area. It was hurting the vault hunters but not enough. Rhys kept sending more turrets down but they were getting destroyed faster then he could deploy them. Before he had time to deploy another, the Bunker was activated. The vault hunters were getting seriously injured this time around but they were getting help by some aerial defenses. Jack screamed from his office to Rhys,

"SEND SOME LOADERS AND GET THOSE BUZZARDS OUT OF THE SKY NOW!"

Rhys panicked and sent down exploding loaders. He quickly sent down a few shielded loaders and gunner loaders to work as a team to get the buzzards down. It was working. Finally something good. The vault hunters were surrounded and there was nothing they could do. Hyperion had finally won.

"ALERT. BUNKER LEVELS LOW. ALERT."

Rhys couldn't believe his ears. How were they standing? How were the vault hunters alive?! Rhys hacked into the Bunkers cam systems and found the vault hunters were using everything they had. They had a psycho, a mechromancer, a siren, a gunzerker, a commando, and whatever Zero was. The psycho used his insane power and got Zero on top of the Bunker. The siren used her powers to lock the Bunker in place, and the rest of them took all their fire power and shot down the bunker. The Bunker landed on the platform with a crash and Rhys was cut off from the feed. They had actually taken down the Bunker.

"YOU TOLD ME IT WAS FULL PROOF, YOU LYING PIECE OF-"

There was a gun shot that came from Jack's office. Henderson and Rhys froze, looked at each other, and then looked up at the doors, expecting Jack to come rushing in, guns blazing. But that wasn't the scene they witnessed. Instead, Vasquez came limping out of the office, clearly shot in the foot. Jack was trailing right behind him. Rhys could see the absolute hate and fire in Jack's eyes. Jack continued to hunt Vasquez down, aiming his gun directly at his chest.

"Any last words, wallet head?"

Vasquez began to cry, panicking and stuttering on his words, "P-please don't. I swear, it-they-there's no possible way they should have gotten through there."

Jack huffed, "Well surprise! THEY DID!"

Jack fired but hit Vasquez in the leg, sending him backwards. He fell to the ground with a whine. 

"HENDERSON? Get this piece of trash out of here. Put him in an airlock for all I care."

Henderson hesitated but quickly snapped back to reality and ran to Vasquez side, dragging him out of the office. Now it was just Jack and Rhys. 

"Rhys. My office. Now."

Rhys nodded and walked with Jack to his office. There along the walls were videos, a live feed on someone.

"This is my little Angel, Rhys. I did everything -EVERYTHING-to protect her. Nows the last chance I've got. That we've got. Rhys, I don't care what it takes, you send every loader, badass, constructors, exploders, whatever it takes to get them away from her. You hear me?!"

Rhys nodded and went to leave when Jack grabbed his arm and held him there.

"NO Rhys. You can do it from your eye. I know you can. I don't want you leaving my side because if this fails.... And it better not fail, I will screw you up."

This was the first time Rhys saw not anger or hate, or the usual death glare, but actual fear from Jack. Rhys couldn't help but to feel for the guy. This was the first time he was hearing the guy even had a daughter. Rhys wanted to do everything he could to help. He nodded to Jack, and focused. He ordered the first wave of loaders and waited for Jack's command. The vault hunters were just entering where Angel was. Where... The vault key was. That's what all of this was about? To get a vault key? The vault hunters were insane and delusional pieces of garbage. Rhys could hear Jack grinding his teeth when he pushed a mic button and quickly activated a barrier around his daughter,

"Get the hell away from MY DAUGHTER! What the hell are you doing, Angel?!"

She spoke back through the video feed, "Stopping you, you piece of-" 

"Ah language!"

Angel screamed for the vault hunters to shoot the eridium injectors but Jack screamed and haulted their assault. He had shields go around them. Rhys was thankful Jack had some back up plans. That's when Jack turned to Rhys, 

"Start sending those loaders down now!" 

Rhys nodded and activated his eye, and fired down the first wave of loaders. It was taking longer to have the badasses ready and especially any constructor. Jack caught Rhys' attention again as he screamed through the mic, 

"Bandits, if you keep this up, I'm heading down there to blow your brains out myself. You hear me?!"

The panic coming from Jack scared Rhys a bit. He'd never seen the man so anxious. Rhys felt for Jack in that moment. He was just protecting his daughter. He loved her to death and was going to do everything to keep her alive.

"So this is how you bandits fight, is that it huh?! You can't come straight for me, you gotta kill an innocent girl?!" 

The vault hunters, however, had plans of their own. Rhys' loaders were only doing so much but one of the bandits got up in the rafters and was disabling the shields one by one. Rhys panicked and sent down the first of the constructors. Then a few badasses and even some shield loaders. But he needed more. Rhys was starting to peak the budget so he quickly nudged a message to Vaughn but there was no response. 

Jack continued to scream into the mic, begging Angel to stop this, begging the vault hunters to stop, "Please. Okay. Are you hearing me? Please don't kill my baby girl."

But they didn't stop. Lilith appeared and was helping the vault hunters destroy the loaders. Rhys was falling behind and couldn't keep up with her. She was killing each new one that appeared. Rhys and Jack were both panicking, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key - you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!"

It was too late. Lilith got Roland to the last shield and it was blown up. Angel floated down softly but Jack wasn't giving up, 

"Angel, you can stop this. I'll still forgive you baby!"

Angel looked up at one of the cameras as if staring right at Jack. 

"Dad, I've got something to tell you.... You're an asshole."

Jack was stunned, "Angel? NO ANGEL?!"

Jack slammed the console, breaking the mic. Rhys' heart was pounding and every moment that passed had gone into slow motion. Jack turned to Rhys and readied his gun. Rhys knew this was his last chance and fucked up. Rhys went to start begging for his life when Jack surprised him, in a low tone,

"You. You stay exactly where you are. You move a single muscle, and I'll kill you when I get back. Got it?"

Rhys didn't even nod. He stayed perfectly still. Jack ran out of the office and to the fast travel. Rhys was shaking with anticipation of what was to come. All of a sudden he could hear a shot ringing through the screens. He looked up and watched as Jack shot one of the vault hunters. He believed his name was Roland. Just as Lilith went to obliterate Jack, Jack whipped out a collar of some kind and snapped it around Lilith throat. He watched as Jack gained control of the strongest siren in the world and watched as she sent the vault hunters away. Jack slammed her into the ground and started to beat her. He stopped for a moment, looking at his daughter. He walked over and Rhys could hear him crying. He picked up his daughter, grabbed Lilith by the arm and ordered her to take the key, and take them to the vault. Lilith snorted out that she didn't know where that was. Jack groaned and explained exactly where it was. Before Rhys eyes, he watched as they flashed out of the room. Rhys was left alone now. His own thoughts starting to pile on top of each other. What was Jack planning now? What was he going to do to him? Rhys shifted but panicked and went back into place. He was so scared for his life that he stiffened in place. What felt like hours had gone by, and Rhys hadn't moved. He was shaking and he even pissed himself scared. He refused to leave that spot.

"You know, I'm shocked you didn't run."

Rhys jumped at the sudden voice. He turned and saw Jack staring down at his gun. He was fiddling with it. He had blood splattered on his clothes and face from shooting Roland. All of a sudden, Jack aimed the gun at Rhys. Rhys' body gave out from standing so long and he kneeled in his own piss, begging,

"Jack please. I tried everything!"

Jack didn't seem to listen. He shot Rhys in the arm. Rhys grabbed it with his robotic arm and felt the pain from both the gun shot and the strain he was putting on his injured shoulder.

"Ahhh! Jack pl-ease. I'm-I'm so sorry."

"Don't you dare, Rhys."

Jack walked right up to Rhys and placed the gun right to his forehead. Jack pulled the trigger but all that was heard was an empty click. Jack hummed and tossed the gun to the side.

"Guess we're doing this the hard way."

Rhys looked up at Jack, lost for a moment, "What-"

Jack took a swing and knocked Rhys to the side. He hit his head off the desk and landed awkwardly on the ground. Jack grabbed Rhys and swung again and again. Rhys panicked and tried to fight back. He brought his robotic arm out and used it to cover his face. Jack's fist slammed into it, causing him to back off in pain for a moment. Rhys used the moment of hesitation to run at Jack and sent him falling to the floor. Rhys tried to hit Jack to give him enough time to run but it was no use. Rhys barely got a swing in when Jack kneed him in the balls. Jack grabbed Rhys and rolled him over so he was on top of him. Jack swung landing directly to Rhys' nose. Rhys felt it crack and rebreak. Blood started pooling out of his nose but that didn't stop Jack. Jack kept swinging, blood now covering his fist. Rhys fought through the pain and brought his robotic arm to push Jack off of him. At first, all Rhys was able to do was hold Jack at a distance but that didn't stop Jack from hammering down his fists. But finally Rhys pushed with all his strength and got Jack flying off of him, landing on his back to the ground. Rhys struggled to stand and was struggling to breath but he pushed and waddled to the door where he entered the office. Rhys tried to echo for help but then he felt someone yanking his legs back. Rhys fell to the ground as Jack practically dragged him towards him. Rhys tried to grab the ground but there was nothing to hold. Jack took a big step and swing his leg back and kicked Rhys right in the ribs. Rhys curled in on himself in pain and felt his tears, blood and all pour down his face. Jack continued to kick Rhys' side until he heard an audible crack. Rhys cried out in pain and couldn't get the air back into his lungs. Jack rolled Rhys onto his back with his foot and slammed his heel into his stomach a couple times. Rhys felt vomit escape his mouth but Jack didn't care. He kicked and slammed Rhys, blood and vomit splattering against the desks and floor. Jack lifted Rhys and kneeled beside him. He brought him right up to his face so Rhys couldn't look away.

"This is for my daughter."

Jack took another swing with his fist and sent it right into Rhys jaw. He didn't stop though. He lifted Rhys up again, 

"You had one chance to get it right Rhysie."

He punched him in the jaw again. Rhys was positive he broke a few teeth. He lifted Rhys up again,

"And yeah failed."

Once again, Jack swung down and this time there was a click from Rhys jaw dislocating. Rhys couldn't breath as blood was going down his throat, and his airways were blocked. Rhys struggled on the ground, splayed out and completely lost. Just as Rhys was able to catch his breath, Jack lifted him again and this time began to strangle him. Rhys couldn't see through his blurred tear filled eyes but in that moment, he knew how lost Jack was. Jack was gone. Rhys' eyes blurred even more as he started to lose consciousness. Just as the blackness consumed Rhys, Jack let Rhys go and slammed him to the ground. Rhys could hear Jack echo someone but Rhys didn't hear who as he blacked out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What even. WHAT EVEN. lolol


	6. The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys wakes from a lost battle. His whole world begins to crumble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well shit eh. Things couldn't get worse right?
> 
> Right....

_"This is for my daughter."_

_Jack was pointing his gun right at Rhys. He clicked it and..._

"Rhys?"

Rhys jumped awake. His eyes were swollen and he couldn't really see properly. But he could hear the beeping machine of his heart rate. Rhys looked around as best he could and put together that he was in the Hyperion hospital. Rhys tried to sit up but immediately regretted the movement. He felt a spiking pain from his ribs and quickly tried to calm himself, but he began coughing, making everything hurt even worse. Vaughn was by the bed and immediately brought over a cup of water with a straw. Rhys coughed, took a shaking breath and took a sip of water, easing the cough away. Rhys looked to his buddy as best he could, 

"What-how'd I get here?"

Vaughn sighed and rubbed his eyes as he sat back down. 

"Jack called Henderson. Had him drag you to the hospital. I got called from him after you were admitted. You've been out for a couple days."

Rhys' heart rate picked up, beeping going faster, "A couple days?! What? What'd I miss?" 

"The vault hunters are insane man. They just keep going. They're going after the vault man. They're trying to stop Jack."

The mention of Jack made Rhys flinch. Rhys felt his arm begin to shake as he remembered the events.

"He was... Trying to kill me."

Vaughn was stunned for a moment, "He almost did. I mean, cracked a few ribs, broke your nose, dislocated your jaw, cracked a few teeth, nearly broke your cheeks, shot your shoulder and tore your other shoulder... Necks pretty bruised too."

Rhys exaimed the damage with his hand, feeling around the bandages. He felt his throat and felt it was swollen with bruising. Rhys looked to Vaughn who seemed stressed. 

"What's going on bro?"

Vaughn looked to Rhys and Rhys swore he saw some tears, but he couldn't really tell with his swollen eyes. 

"You almost died because of me."

"What do you mean?"

"You tried to call me that day. I didn't answer because my boss was on my ass about the budget. I thought I could help Rhys. I should've tried harder. Maybe if I did, we would've succeeded -"

"It wasn't your fault. No matter what I sent, those vault hunters.... They just tore through it all."

Vaughn got choked up, "I just-I should've been ready-I told you I was-I fucked up bro-I'm so sorry."

"Vaughn, no shhh."

"Get the fuck out."

The sudden voice made them both jump. Rhys trembled when he looked up and found Jack at the entrance, his eyes burning with rage. Was he there to finish the job?

"Did I stutter? I said get the fuck out."

Vaughn didn't need to be told a third time. He looked to Rhys before he quickly left the room. Jack looked as if he were hunting prey. He slowly walked to the bed, shutting the door behind him. 

"Hi yeah Rhysie. Still alive I see."

Rhys didn't know what to say. He was scared for his life. Jack continued anyways, 

"I warned you... You'd wish you were dead. I've just come to tell you that....well, easy. You're fired."

Rhys lost his breath and began coughing but he spoke through it, "I'm what?"

"Jeeze kiddo, did I hit yeah that hard? I said, you. Are. Fired. You've got three days to pack your shit up and head home, wherever that is. If I see even a single scrap of you still here, I'll come hunt you and everyone else you love down. Got it?"

Rhys was lost. Everything he worked for. Everything he'd done was gone. Just like that. He scrambled to find some way, anyway to recover, 

"But what about my debt to the company? Doesn't the company own me?"

Jack chuckled, "You're kidding me right? What point of you're fired, get the fuck out don't you understand? It's done Rhys. I'll have the Warrior by the time you're home and maybe I'll pay a visit and finish you off. But in the meantime, I've got other important shit to do, like, oh I don't know, actually stopping the vault hunters and killing them like YOU were supposed to."

Rhys stumbled to find words but nothing came to him. But it was too late, Jack started walking to the door but before he left, he made one final promise, 

"I'll see yeah around Rhys. And this time, you'll really wish you didn't screw up."

Jack left and slammed the door behind him. Rhys was completely stunned. Jack wrote his death sentence for him. In three days, Rhys was to return home and Jack would have the most powerful weapon in the world. The Warrior. Rhys couldn't handle the news and immediately began to panic again. Tears poured down his face, and it made the pain in his body flare up. He began to cough uncontrollably. Vaughn came rushing in and helped as best he could but it was all a blur to Rhys. Jack was going to end his life. He was going to kill him once and for all.

The next day, Rhys was given instahealths which helped with some of the pain and was sent on his way. Being fired, he had nothing to do but go home and start packing. It hurt to move and Rhys had no motivation to do anything. He slumped to his room, flopped on his bed and cried himself to sleep. He woke up to a gentle knock at his door.

"Hey bro. Yvette's here. She brought some pizza, fries and milkshakes. Your fav."

Rhys groaned and carefully got out of bed. He walked into the living room and Yvette nearly broke more ribs as she ran at him and squeezed him. Rhys coughed a bit and poked her,

"Yvette. Ribs. Ouch."

She backed away, "OH right. Sorry. Sorry. I just.... I can't believe you're leaving."

Rhys sighed, "Not by choice."

Together they sat down and quietly ate the meal. None of them knew what to say. Vaughn was getting sick of the silence and finally broke the air, 

"Why are we moping? We should be celebrating the times we've had. Like, remember that time you flirted with the robotics tech and turns out she was like, double your age?"

Rhys snorted, "Eh, she looked really, really good for her age."

Yvette giggled, "Remember the first time we met? You admitted to my face that you were terrified of my friend Terra."

Rhys broke into laughs, "Hey! Terra is a bulldozer of a human. "

They continued to tell stories of Rhys' many mishaps and accomplishments but soon the night came to an end. The air ran quiet and Yvette couldn't help but cry to her friends.

"I'm gonna miss the hell out of you Rhys!"

He didn't want to admit that the last couple days would be the last days he'd be alive. So he played it cool, "I'll be an echo call away."

She gently grabbed Rhys into a hug, "You call if you need anything, okay? Promise me!"

Rhys bit his lip, "I promise." He knew that was a promise he couldn't keep.

The final day arrived and Rhys decided if he was going to die, he was at least going to enjoy his last moments alive. Rhys went nuts and decided to explore the Hyperion space station to the fullest. He found the arcade and played every game there. He went to the best restaurant on the station and got the most expensive items. He took a space walk around the station. He went to a bar and got stupidly drunk. Lastly, he hung out with his friends and finished packing up the last of his items. He was scheduled to fly out of there in the morning. But he didn't want to think about that. After his friends left for bed, Rhys played around with his echo eye, seeing what he still had access to. That's when he noticed something unusual. He quickly pulled it up and realized that he had access to the information on the vault and it hadn't been hauled away. Rhys smirked to himself. Rhys wasn't going to stand by and just lay down and die for Jack. If Jack was going to be waiting for the vault hunters for one last fight, Rhys was going to do anything he could to give the vault hunters a one up. First, he was careful to make sure not to leave any trails leading back to him. He couldn't do anything too big or it'd be notciable. Instead, Rhys sent down ammo supplies, some instahealths and vending machines. He bit his lip and debated with himself to sending a mortar. Instead, Rhys set it up so you could call for a mortar instead. He quickly covered up his steps and shut down the systems. He hoped for his life that something would allow the vault hunters to win. They came this far. What's one vault creature? Only the most powerful being in the world... But still. Rhys had nothing to lose and what's the saying? Don't mess with someone who's got nothing left to lose. Rhys smirked to himself, shut his eyes and hoped for a better tomorrow.

Rhys woke to a beeping coming from his eye. He quickly woke up and checked to see that it was a request for a mortar. He smirked, hit accept and hoped it meant the end of the great Handsome Jack. But for now, it was time for Rhys to start piling his things together and to head to the shuttle to take him home. Rhys got dressed, called for a cart to pile his items on and started trekking to the shuttle. Just as he was arriving, he could hear someone chasing after him. 

"RHYS! FOR FUCK SAKES STOP!"

Rhgs turned around to find Vaughn chasing after him. He quickly took a few deep breaths before speaking again. 

"Bro. You're gonna wanna see this."

Rhys told the shuttle to give him a few minutes and ran with Vaughn to the main business hall of Hyperion. Splattered across the banners were photos of Lilith and the mask of Handsome Jack. Rhys couldn't believe it. 

"Vaughn... Tell me what this is."

Vaughn seemed a little unsure, disturbed even, "Jack's gone. The vault hunters killed him."

Rhys mind stopped for a moment. Did he actually help to kill Jack? His heart seemed to ache a bit. Why was he feeling this way? Shouldn't he be jumping for joy? Or maybe it was the fact that he'd once admired the guy but now he was actually gone. He was never going to see him again.

"Rhys?"

Rhys turned to Vaughn, lost in his own mind, "Hmm?"

"That means you don't have to leave, right?"

"I suppose not."

Rhys hurried back to the shuttle and called it off. He took his cart back to his room and settled back in. He wasn't going to die after all. He was going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. So we're seriously getting this rolling. We'll be jumping into the tales chapters next which I'm excited to write again!


	7. Vault Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been one year and Hyperion continues business as usual. Just as Rhys is climbing the ladder to success, everything takes a turn and Rhys gets sent on another adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for Tales!! Woooo! This might be a long chapter basically describing the beginning of tales.

One year. Rhys would never forget the moment that he heard that Handsome Jack was dead. It was the anniversary of his death and it was the beginning of Rhys' new adventure in Hyperion. Business had continued as usual after Jack's passing. Hyperion continued to sell equipment, robotics, guns, security supplies and more. Henderson had ended up taking over since he was the next in line. Rhys worked under him as an assistant and Henderson had wanted to talk promotions with Rhys. Vaughn was pumping Rhys up before his talk with Henderson.

"So, what's the first thing you're gonna buy?"

Rhys chuckled, "I figured I could get lunch. Seems like a good place to start."

"Well, then we're starting with three of whatever most expensive."

Rhys smirked just as they were arriving to the big door of Hendersons office. Jack's office had been turned into a display of sorts. Rhys hated it but Hyperion wouldn't be what it was without Jack's help. Vaughn nudged Rhys, 

"You ready bro?"

Rhys took a deep breath and nodded, 

"Ready."

"Cool. I'll wait here. Yvette's waiting on us to celebrate after!"

Rhys nodded and entered the office alone. His heart was pounding but he knew everything was going to be fine. He used to be Jack's assistant after all. Nothing could be worse than that. Just as he was approaching his desk, he noticed something off about Henderson.

"Is everything okay Henderson-"

"Have a swat Rhys, I'll just be a second."

That wasn't Hendersons voice. That or he had some really bad cold. Rhys walked closer to the desk and noticed the name change. Finally the man revealed himself. 

"Vasquez."

"You look surprised to see me Rhys and if I'm reading the situation right, and I usually am, you're not too happy about it either."

"Where's Henderson?"

"He uh.. had to step out. You're going to be reporting to me now Rhys. But the promotion you worked so hard to get. That's still coming."

Rhys was on edge. Something wasn't sitting right at all. 

"Okay and-"

"But thus us about more than that, Rhys. This is about your future in this company. Look, you wanna know the reason I'm in that chair and you're not? For the exact same reason why North is North, why the handsome guy always gets the girl and why every spaceship in this universe is shaped like a cock. It's destiny Rhys. And men, men like me make their own. You can hold a grudge if you like, no harm no fail, your thoughts are your own... But bad things can happen when you swing against fate... "

Rhys didn't hear the rest that Vasquez had to say as Rhys caught a glance in the window and he watched as Henderson floated out in space. Henderson was gone.

"What did you-"

"This promotion Rhys, is going to take you out of the way of other people's destiny and put you on your own path... And that my friend is why I'm promoting you to-"

A loud ding sounded and a voice came through a speaker, "Vasquez. It's August."

Vasquez seemed on edge by the sudden interruption, "August, listen I've got somebody here with me so-"

"Are you buying this vault key, or what?"

Rhys heard it loud and clear. Vasquez immediately took August off of speaker and continued to talk to him via wireless headset. Rhys knew Vasquez was into shady business but not vault business again. Vasquez continued to talk to August but that gave Rhys enough time to get more info by hacking his computer. Just in time, he got the information as Vasquez was finishing. He turned back to Rhys,

"OH... Right. What were we talking about again?"

"We were talking about my promotion."

"Right right. Your promotion. Listen, Henderson was a fool. He didn't know his place. He needed lesson number 1...humility. But you Rhys. I respect you. Which is why I'm going to make you assistant vice.... Janitor."

Rhys laughed in disbelief, "You're kidding right? You can't do that."

"I'm the boss now Rhys. I can do whatever I want." 

Rhys was fed up with Vasquez, "You were nothing when Jack was around."

At first it looked as if Vasquez looked as if he were hurt, then all of a sudden he punched Rhys, sending him to the ground. Rhys' nose bled so easily now since it was broken so many times. Vasquez stood over Rhys,

"I'm the boss now, Rhys. Get used to that. This is what I'm talking about when I say humility. You're dismissed Rhys."

Vasquez kicked Rhys on his way back to his desk. Rhys slowly got up, wiping his nose and headed back outside to meet Vaughn. Everything was falling apart. Vaughn was stunned, 

"What was that?! He can't do this to us!"

Rhys huffed, "He just did."

"No.... No no this can't be happening."

Rhys sighed as they walked to go tell Yvette the news, "I'm finished. That's what he wanted. You know how this place is. There's blood in the water and everyone can smell it!"

Vaughn panicked and shushed Rhys, 

"No no no no. They can't. Not yet. Unless you don't quiet down. We just gotta keep it on the down low until we figure something out. It's not that bad yet."

That was until Vaughn knocked into a trash can and the whole place went on alert that it was Rhys job to now clean trash.... With his bare hands. Yvette met them and seemed disappointed but happy to see her friends. 

"Guess you're not buying lunch?"

Rhys walked on, wanting to be locked away in his room forever. Yvette ran to Rhys,

"I was just trying to lighten the mood. And you know me, I always forget my wallet so...if someone could pay for me-"

Vaughn interrupted, "I'll tell you who's gonna pay. Vasquez. We can't let that douche get away with this. We've gotta do something."

Then it triggered in Rhys brain. He stopped in his tracks causes Vaughn to bump into him. 

"Wow. What is it Rhys?"

He turned to his friends stunned and excited, "We steal his deal."

Yvette was lost, "Okay, what?"

"We steal his deal. I've got all the info. We just need to somehow get.... Ten million dollars and meet with the bandits down on Pandora to get the vault key. We get that and we'll be invincible."

Vaughn chuckled, "Hold please. Annnnnddd done. Ten million is ready to go."

Both Yvette and Rhys were stunned. Rhys hesitated for a moment, "Did you... Did you just do what I think you did?"

Vaughn crossed his arms and smirked, "Bro. You know I did. But how exactly are we getting down there?"

Rhys smirked devilishly, "OH I've got an idea."

With Yvette staying behind just in case they needed anything further, Vaughn and Rhys snuck to the moonshot. Rhys hacked the system and had Vasquez car order land right inside. Together, they hopped in with the ten million dollars and shot down to Pandora. It was a smooth drive. Driving by bandits fighting over treasure, rakks, and more. Rhys continued to track the location they were headed on his eye. They were getting close. After running over a skag, they entered a pretty heavily bandit filled town. But that's the way they were meant to go. Vaughn was getting anxious because he was chained to ten million dollars but Rhys had hopes that everything would be fine. They just needed to find the guy, August, get the key and return to Hyperion. It was full proof. The only issue was Rhys tracker was saying they were there but there was no sign of the place.

"Maybe we should ask one of them?"

Vaughn pointed towards a few bandits cooking some food, or if you'd even call it that. Rhys was hesitant but they had no other plans so asking it was. They hopped out of the car and walked over. Rhys of course was the one doing all the talking, 

"Excuse me-ahem-do you uh... Know where the World of Curiosities is?"

The guy didn't answer. He just stared on. Vaughn poked in, "It should be around here."

The guy chuckled, "You lost? What are you here for? "

Vaughn was getting nervous and his behind Rhys. Rhys sighed, "We're just here for a simple business deal. We'll be in and out. Not trying to be a bother." 

The guy seemed to noticed Rhys outfit and was stunned but not happy, "You're Hyperion. You eggheads ruined this town. Sure, Atlas were bastards but when Jack came in, he turned everything to smoke. And it's assholes like you that made it happen." 

Rhys didn't know what to say. The guy wasn't wrong. Hyperion did a lot of bad shit but Rhys wasn't part of that, was he? Vaughn spoke up, 

"Look, we seriously just wanna get going." 

The guy was now staring at Vaughn. He slammed his knife into the bench and walked towards Vaughn, "Eh little man. What's in the case?" 

Rhys stepped in between them, "Look, we seriously don't want any trouble-" 

But then all of a sudden bandits started surrounding them. Vaughn nudged Rhys, 

"Call Yvette. Do the bot thing." 

Rhys had almost forgot. He pulled up his echo and Yvette sighed loudly, 

"Seriously? Already?" 

"Ha. Just... We need a loader bot okay? Just send the menu." 

"Okay but don't go bananas." 

Rhys quickly used his robotic hand and selected the loader they needed. Just as he selected it the bandits started going after them. Rhys and Vaughn hid as best they could, waiting for the loader to land. When it finally did, killing one of the bandits in the landing, it stared at Rhys and waved hello. Rhys yelled at it, 

"Well! Start shooting!!" 

It began attacked the bandits but more were coming out of every corner. Just as they had one section cleared, another section appeared. All of a sudden, Rhys heard Vaughn scream, 

"RHYS HELP!" 

Vaughn was attached to the car but someone was driving. Rhys and the loader bot started chasing after them but more bandits appeared, blocking their path. Rhys turned down another corner but it was blocked. A bandit attacked Rhys and cornered him. Rhys had almost forgot about the stun baton Yvette gave him, as it fell from his pocket. He picked it up and pushed the big red button. It opened and sent the bandit flying. Rhys was shocked. But there was no time to sit and be amused. He had Vaughn to save. Rhys ran to the next building and found loader bot holding the car up but no sign of Vaughn. 

"VAUGHN?!" 

That's when the main bandit appeared again. Rhys noticed blood on his knife and Rhys grew worried, 

"What did you do to Vaughn?" 

The guy huffed, "How should I know. Your bot tossed us both out. Now kindly stand still and die!" 

But Rhys dodged in time and used the baton to send the guy flying. He hit a stand and revealed where the World of Curiosities was. Rhys noticed Vaughn hiding by the bot and quickly scaled down to be with them. Loader not put the car down but only attracted more bandits. Vaughn was getting nervous, 

"Rhyyyssss. Do something!" 

The loader bot was awaiting more of Rhys instructions. Rhys looked to his eye and discovered he could hack the systems further and combined the attacks. Rhys did so and thus bodies began flying through the air. Just when they thought they won, even more bandits appeared. Rhys and Vaughn made a run for the World of Curiosities entrance but it was gated closed. The loader bot helped them up and gave them a thumbs up. But bandits continued to attack. Rhys told the bot to evacuate and sent it running. Together Vaughn and Rhys headed further into the World of Curiosities. The place was filled with stuffed creatures of all kinds. It scared the shit out of Rhys the kind of creatures that could be found on Pandora. The further they got in, the worse it got. At the back, they stumbled into a stuffed body. Vaughn was grossed out but part of Rhys wasn't surprised to find something that messed up on Pandora. 

"Right this way to the world famous Hall of Pandoran Luminaries." 

The voice scared Rhys and Vaughn, getting a little squeel out of both of them. The speaker in the stuff person's chest was echoing for them to continue. 

Rhys sighed, "Well, there's no other way but to continue." 

Vaughn groaned, "I reaalllyyy don't like the way things are turning." 

They continued down the hall and were introduced to each figure they passed. Rhys stumbled upon a familiar face. 

"OH I remember this guy. What an asshole." 

It was professor Nakayama. He used to work on Hyperion and there was no one more obsessed with Handsome Jack then him. Rhys remembered the guy all too well because he helped build Rhys' arm and eye. He was a smart guy, Rhys would give him that, but in many ways, he was also an idiot. Rhys noticed in his pocket something sticking out.

"Hey. Isn't that a Hyperion ID chip?"

Vaughn seemed more excited this time around, "OH! Grab it. Hyperion pays a pretty penny for recovering those things."

Rhys grabbed it. They continued forward but found themselves at a door. Rhys tried it a couple times but it wouldn't budge. 

"Damn doors locked."

Vaughn sighed, "Maybe there's a key or something we missed."

They started trailing back when Rhys spotted something missing in the corner of his eye. Then of course the answer popped out on them. 

"HEY THERE!"

Both Vaughn and Rhys screamed. The man that was one of many supposed stuffed beings was not in fact dead. He giggled at their reaction and continued talking loudly. 

"Well aren't you just the most handsome fellows I've seen in a long time."

Rhys nearly smacked the guy, "Why were you pretending to be dead?!"

"Dead? No no no no, asleep maybe. But dead. Now you're just getting ahead of yourself."

Vaughn was getting restless, "What is this?! Some kind of part of the ride. Ever since we walked in here it's been one freaky puppet show-"

"THANKS. I'M Shade. And this is my World of Curiosities."

Shade continued to ramble but Rhys wasn't having any of it, 

"Okay okay. That's nice. But we're here to see August? He told us to meet him here."

"WELL why didn't you say so. Come on, this way."

Shade opened the door and finally led them to the back while blabbering on about his grandfather or something of that sort. Rhys wasn't really paying attention. He had one mission in mind and it was getting the damn vault key. 

"What happened? You get stuck in traffic?"

Rhys turned to find a man, who he assumed was August. Rhys laughed, "OH well excuse me! I don't know if you heard the explosions outside but you know, we had to mow down a couple hundred bandits just so we could ring the goddamn door bell."

Shade seemed happy about the ordeal. August hummed to himself,

"Yeah well... That's Pandora for you. If it ain't a friggin bug stampede some jerkoff is usin you for rocket practice."

Shade said his goodbyes and left them to their business. August continued, 

"I'm August but I bet you know that already. Is uh... Is Vasquez coming?"

Rhys bit his lip but quickly came up with a lie, "OH Vasquez. He was just the middle man. I'm the one buying the key."

August huffed and nodded, "Eh. As long as you've got the money, I don't care. What's your name anyways?"

"Rhys."

"Alright Reece, just take a seat so we can move on with our lives."

Rhys followed August and they took a seat at a desk. Vaughn stood behind Rhys and a lady stood behind August. August spoke up, 

"So, show us the money."

Rhys laughed, "Oh no no. I know how this works. You show us the merchandise first then we show you the money."

"Alright alright jeeze."

August lifted up the heavy container and presented the vault key. Rhys had never actually seen one in person. It was,

"Goddamn gorgeous."

"Right?"

"Wait."

The lady by August shut the case, "I've got a baaaddd feeling."

August was just as confused as the others, "Feeling? What feeling?"

"You told me if I ever got a feeling that I should tell you. Well I'm getting one now."

Rhys was lost, "Is she okay?"

August waved him off, "Yeah yeah... She's just freakin out.. She does that sometimes."

Out of nowhere, she took the case and started backing away with it. August and Rhys stood up. August protested, "Woah Sasha what the hell are you doing?"

"I just don't trust these guys. There all yes sir and no sir this. And they just happen to have the money we need."

Vaughn was confused, "None of that is bad."

"NOBODY DOES THAT! Especially not Hyperion war mongers."

Rhys tried to calm the situation down, "Listen Sasha? Was it? We are seriously just here for the key. I know you have no reason to trust us but we are not like those Hyperion assholes. In fact, we're trying to screw over one of the biggest assholes up there."

Sasha seemed to calm down some, "So you're saying you need the key just to screw over someone?"

"Yes and it's damn well worth the ten million."

Sasha smiled and nodded, "Welp, I'm sold."

But then August became hesitant, "Wait Sasha if you really had a feeling maybe we shouldn't."

"No August, the feelings gone now. Everything's fine."

"Maybe not today-"

Rhys couldn't believe this, "Come on August. Sasha said the feelings gone. Let's just make this deal."

"I'm so sorry guys. It's just I thought I was dealing with Vasquez and now this? I just think we should call it off until I think things are square."

Rhys wasn't about to give up, "August wait."

"What?"

Rhys was at his last plan. He kneeled down and begged, "August plleeaassseee."

Vaughn took that as a cue and even showed the money to them. Sasha nudged August, 

"Dude. Ten million dollars."

"You make a good point."

August took the key back to Rhys. Rhys held it in his hands and he wanted to scan it immediately but all of a sudden a huge shock wave came over him, froze his systems in his eye and locked his arm up. That's when he watched as the key hit the group and broke. Rhys stomach dropped, "Its a fake. It's a fake!"

All of a sudden, there was a loud rumbling and in came a big bandit with loud music taste. And Zero, a vault hunter. Rhys and Vaughn barely dodged the car as it swirved by them. Vaughn tried to run for the money but the big bandit grabbed it before he had a chance and took off. Psychos started filling the area. Zero took care of a few of them but a couple started going after Vaughn and Rhys. They dodged what they could and made a run after the big bandit. But running on foot wasn't going to work. Rhys spotted a car and grabbed Vaughn to head that way. They rushed in and Rhys immediately began hot wiring it. That's when they heard voices approaching. But Rhys didn't care. They needed to get the money back.

"Are you seriously trying to steal our caravan?"

Rhys stopped for a moment to reply, "Now now now hold on, it's not what it looks like..... Okay yeah its exactly what it looks like.. But look, I am really sorry okay?"

Sasha groaned, "OH give us one good reason why we shouldn't shoot you and drag your bodies out that door."

All of a sudden gun shots started firing towards them. Rhys nodded, "There's one good reason."

The man with Sasha and the other mystery woman scrambled for them to shut the door and he began driving off. Once they were a good distance away, the mystery woman aimed a gun at Rhys and Vaughn.

"So, which one of you wants to go first?"

Rhys was lost, "First?"

"You should do."

Mystery woman grabbed Rhys and shoved him at Sasha who then opened the door and tried to shove Rhys out. Vaughn tired to help but mystery woman aimed the gun at him. Rhys held on to the sides as best he could with one regular arm and one robotic arm. He began screaming,

"WOAH!! HOLD ON!! YOU DON'T WANNA DO THIS?"

The man driving nearly laughed, "He's just stalling."

Rhys tried to think of a plan and something struck him, "We can find the money!"

Mystery woman spoke, "What? You can't be serious."

"The case has a tracker, I can follow it!"

Vaughn nodded to them, confirming Rhys theory. The man in charge nodded, "Let em go Fiona. Sasha. Let's hear what else he has to say."

"Even if you do find that case, you'll never be able to get in it."

Vaughn chuckled, "It has a top of the line biometric lock. It's impossible to open without me and my passcodes."

The man in charge laughed back, "Get the case in my hands, and it'll be open."

Rhys shrugged, "If you say so. But first we need to find it."

"Call Yvette!"

Vaughn nearly screamed it. Fiona, the mystery woman, shoved Vaughn, "What? Send more Hyperion after us?!"

The man in charge screamed back, "Let's just see what they try. If they betray us, then we'll kill them."

Rhys took those words seriously and felt a little bit of panic. He quickly called Yvette and she did not look happy on the echo. 

"Rhys. What the hell happened?! You were supposed to make the deal and head right back. Now people are looking for you!"

"We uh... Hit some minor speed bumps but nothing we can't figure out."

"Minor speed bumps?! That's not what it looked like from up here. Vasquez has black listed you guys for stealing his car and more."

"Unbelievable!"

Vaughn tried to help, "Isn't there anything you can do." 

Yvette huffed, "Not without breaking authorizations. I already have security askigg everything I know."

"Cant you just get on the network and track the money?" 

Yvette was stunned, "You lost the money too?! Rhys there's nothing I can do okay. They're tracking my every move. I shouldn't even be on the phone with you right now. They'll track the number."

Rhys heart dropped but he knew she was trying her best, "Okay. Just.... Keep your head safe okay." 

"You too Rhys. Don't get yourselves killed." 

The man in charge laughed, "So you've got nothing." 

Vaughn tried to puzzle something together, "There's gotta be another way. Can't you, I don't know, download someone else's credentials?" 

Thats when it hit Rhys. He had the ID drive from Nakayama. Rhys pulled it out and showed the others, "Here goes nothing." 

Rhys plugged it into his port but it immediately began to electrocute his insides. It sent his mind buzzing, his entire body jolted and next thing Rhys knew, he was on the floor and blacked out. 

_"I'm very disappointed in you. Did you think you could follow in my footsteps? You are nothing more than another pitiful little code monkey. All swagger, no substance."_

Rhys woke with what felt like the biggest hangover he could ever experience. He had a migraine and felt incredibly nauseous. He sat up, wiped the drool from his face and took the ID drive out of his port. He tucked it away and looked around. No one was around.

"Vaughn? Sasha? Fiona? Anyone?"

But no response. Rhys carefully stood up and walked to the door where he saw the group of them huddled by a cliffs edge. Rhys walked over. Fiona was the first to notice. She smirked at him and laughed.

"Whatever you planned on doing and hoping it would work? Yeah. It didn’t. Luckily, your friend here found a way to turn the tracker back on.”

The rest of them glanced at Rhys, Vaughn stepping forward, face pale and his glasses slightly askew, 

“Hey man. You okay? You kind of just… passed out in there.”

Rhys rubbed his port, feeling a headache throbbing, “Yeah, I think. At least we found the money, right?”

Vaughn sighed but Felix shushed them, “Be quiet. There are bandits around.”

They walked closer to the cliff where they investigated their surroundings. Cars and bandits of all kinds surrounded the area. Rushing in was Zero. Sasha broke the silence, 

“So what is this place?”

Vaughn shrugged, “Looks like an abandon Atlas warehouse.”

Felix huffed, “Doesn’t look abandon to me.”

Fiona yawned, “Any idea how to get in?”

Vaughn smirked towards Rhys, “It’s all old Atlas tech man. You should be able to scan it.”

Rhys was already a step ahead of him. He was scanning instinctively to calm his nerves, but when his systems started glitching, he only felt more on edge.

“Okay?"

Fiona laughed, “Everything okay, techy?”

Rhys rolled his eyes, “Yeah. Fine. I think I found us a hatch. Goes all the way under the facility, however, it’s guarded.”

Felix stood, “Well, you found a way in. Now ladies, you know what to do. You get in and you get out. We’ve risked enough today. And remember, don’t trust anyone.”

The buzzing headache in Rhys head was only getting worse but the conversation between the group distracted him.

Fiona looked at Felix, “Wait, you’re not coming?”

He shrugged, “Someone needs to be the getaway. Besides, my injured arm will only slow you down. Now get going. We don’t have all night.”

With that, Sasha, Fiona, Vaughn and Rhys worked together to get to the hatch. It was easier than any of them thought. Except for Rhys, who secretly had an entire “badass” plan set up. Once they reached the hatch, Rhys took it upon himself to go in first, followed by Sasha. As soon as they got into the hatch, it closed. Darkness surrounded them and they couldn’t hear the outside.

“Okay, Vaughn. Super uncool bro.”

Sasha screamed after him, “FIONA. COME ON! OPEN UP.”

No one answered and the hatch never opened. Sasha kicked Rhys’ hand, gaining an ow.

“This. THIS IS YOUR FAULT. OOhhh I see how it is. Plan to split us up. Take us out one at a time.”

Rhys ignored her and turned his hand flashlight on. He began climbing down the hatch as Sasha yelled her protests, but followed him further in.

“…THEN, HYPERION IS GOING TO SHOW UP AND WHAT? SHOOT US UNTIL WE ARE UNRECONGONIZABLE?!”

“Oh my God Sasha, no.”

He stepped down onto the solid ground and turned to find an exit.

“This way.”

“Whoa no. I am not taking orders from you. I’m the one with the gun.”

She pulled out a machine gun and pointed it at Rhys. Rhys flinched,

"Could you not? Besides, do you see any other way out." 

Sasha groaned, "Okay. Point taken. Let's go that way." 

Rhys walked forward and Sasha followed behind him. They continued walking until they reached an area where a group of bandits were on a lift to the surface. Sasha aimed her gun but Rhys noticed something,

“No. Not now.”

Sasha pushed Rhys aside, “Oh come on-”

He pointed, “Seriously, look!”

There were two guards leftover, keeping guard of the area. Sasha smirked and put her gun away.

“Okay Rhys. Let’s see how good you are. I’ll take out the guard on the left. You do Mr. Bandit on the right. Sound good?”

Before Rhys could object, Sasha hurried to the bandit. She knocked him out with ease and stealth. Rhys gave her a thumbs up and made his way to the last bandit. He hopped onto the bandit and tried to strangle him, but the bandit stood and laughed,

"Frank, is that you?”

“No. This is your…ah. Doom.”

Sasha yelled from the other side, “Wow. Real nice Rhys. Want help?”

The bandit laughed, “No no. Give the guy a chance.”

Rhys struggled until the bandit knocked him off. He fell onto something hard and realized he had almost forgotten the stun baton he packed. The bandit was fast and grabbed it out of Rhys’ arms.

“Nice try fella. But this is mine now.” The bandit stared blankly at the baton, “Uh, now to get this thing on.”

Rhys smirked and pushed the red ‘on’ button that was facing the opposite way. The bandit got knocked back, throwing the baton and landing perfectly in Rhys’ grasp.

“OH COME ON! DON’T TELL ME THAT WASN’T AWESOME!”

Sasha rolled her eyes and reluctantly gave Rhys a thumbs up. They walked down the area, noticing caged Skags around. Rhys shivered and didn’t want to know why they were keeping them around. They managed to find the lifts controls but they were locked. Sasha started banging the console but Rhys grabbed her arms,

“WOW. Be careful! Might set off alarms. Or worse, let the skag’s loose”

Sasha grabbed her gun and aimed it at Rhys again, “OH SORRY. Then you fix it.”

Rhys smirked and hacked into the controls. Before he knew it, the lift began booting up again. Sasha was staring at the baton and lowered her gun.

“Woah. That’s the JR4000. Do you mind… letting me try it?”

Rhys cocked his eye at her, “You promise to give it back?”

She perked up, “Yes!”

“Pinky promise?”

She held out her pinky, “Yesss!”

He handed it to her and she took it, giggling and playing around with it like a new toy. Out of the corner of his eyes, Rhys watched her and couldn’t help hold back his smile.

Cute.

When she handed it back to him, Rhys smirked at her.

“You know, we make a pretty good team.”

She snorted, “Yeah, I guess. But juusssttt in case.”

Again, she aimed the gun towards Rhys. She winked at him as the platform began resetting.

Rhys sighed, “Seriously? I thought we were passed this.”

Sasha frowned, “Passed this? Are you kidding? Do you even know what Hyperion means to us on Pandora? All that suffering, pain and havoc you all caused? And even if you weren’t directly involved, you were still part of it. You contributed.”

Rhys sighed. Sasha was more right than Rhys would admit. Rhys stared at Sasha and shook his head.

“Trust me. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows up there either. The shit I had to do to get where I was… HA. What I’d give to never have even ended up with Hyperion.”

“Oh, feeling the guilt of Hyperion? Good.”

Rhys rolled his eyes and tried to make the lift work. The small buzzing was making its way back to his head and the headache became worse. Finally, he got the lift into motion and it began working back down towards them. They got quiet for only a moment before Sasha spoke up again.

“What’s it like?”

Shocked, Rhys looked at her, no longer holding the gun towards him. “What?”

“Up there. On that…station? What’s it called?”

“Helios.”

“Yeah, Helios. What’s it like? Being a part of a corporation that’s blood thirsty, crazy, power hungry, terrible warmongers, constantly reaping all the benefits you get from destroying Pandora and essentially being the most feared company in the entire universe. Is it fun? Is it something you like?”

Rhys tried to will the lift faster as it got closer to their level.

“Trust me, it’s not. Look, all I’ve ever known is Atlas and Hyperion. Two companies but almost one in the same. Blood thirsty? Not exactly. But power hungry? Definitely. All I ever dreamed of doing was being a leader. Some of us up there actually gave a damn about the planet, tried to slip in help where we could but it wasn’t that easy when money deals were always involved.”

As the lift made it, Rhys and Sasha stepped on.

Sasha looked around, “Why isn’t it moving?”

“Because I don’t have the proper clearances. I just gotta’ hack into the commands and we are good.”

Rhys turned his robotics on but they continued to glitch like before. The headache was pounding at this point.

“The hell…”

Sasha shifted and stared at Rhys, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah…just. System is all…weird.”

Rhys attempted to select one of the options, causing all of the skag cages to drop and open.”

“Uh Rhys?”

“Sorry! The buttons are all glitched out, I can’t read them properly. Just, shoot and stay out of their way.”

Sasha rolled her eyes and shot at the skags, “Oh great. Hurry up.”

Rhys hit the next button and music began filling the area. Sasha scuffed, “Oh perfect. Now when we die, we’ll have a nice soundtrack to our death.”

“Hold on. I almost got this.”

_“Do yeah champ? Do yeah almost got it?”_

Rhys shook his head at the sound, “Yeah, I do!”

Sasha paused, “Do what?”

Rhys realized Sasha didn’t speak. And shook his head again. Something wasn’t sitting right but he had other matters at hand. Literally.

Rhys hit the last button and the lift began moving up. “YES!”

Sasha kept shooting the skags that were trying to find their way up to them. The other voice screamed into Rhys’ head, scaring him and causing his head to pound.

_“Look at you! A real winner!”_

That voice…

Rhys noticed a skag approach from behind Sasha, he pointed and she aimed but no bullets exited.

“Shoot. SHOOT!”

The skag jumped causing the two of them to scream, when the skag landed in mid air, blood spewing out of it. A blue sword came into focus as Zero flashed within view. The skag fell with a splat as Zero turned and approached the two.

“Could you let me know/if you see a Gortys core/ I really need it.”

Rhys stared at Zero, “Uh… Sure. We’ll let you know. Just. Uh… You are really awesome. Just wanted you to know that.”

Zero showed a heart on his mask as they continued to ascend. Sasha gave Rhys a hard glace and shifted on her feet. Everything went quiet and Rhys noticed his head no longer hurting. He would figure out what was going on with his cybernetics later but for now, he had a mission on his mind. Finding Vaughn and Fiona and getting that cash back.

As the light blinded them, they found themselves in the middle of a racing field. Car engines echoed loud all throughout the arena as Bossanova, the big bandit, talked about the death race and the prize, being the briefcase of money. Shielding himself with the case, Zero shot Bossanova and caused the case to fall down towards them. Zero ran off and began fighting Bossanova while Rhys pointed towards the case but a bandit flew down on a motorcycle and grabbed it before he could. 

“Great.”

Sasha laughed, “Oh yeah. We are so dead.”

Rhys saw the caravan racing in the distance and pointed, “Look.”

Sasha saw and immediately smiled, “At least we know Felix has got our backs…Oh and great. Your friend dragged my SISTER INTO THE RACE. GREEAAATT. Hey wait, is that… RHYS!”

Rhys turned around and the bandit holding the case came charging right at them. Sasha took a swing with the baton and sent the bandit and motorcycle flying. Another group of bandits ran out, grabbing the case and shot in Rhys’ and Sasha’s direction. Sasha’s gun was reloaded and firing away. Rhys tried to scan but nothing was working for him.

“Come ON. There’s gotta’ be something.”

Rhys ECHO went off and he almost cheered, “YES! That’s gotta’ be Yvette. We can get another Loader Bot!”

Rhys opened his ECHO, “Yvette, thank God-”

“OH. Professor Nakayama, you sound different.”

Rhys didn’t hear Yvette. He looked down and saw the one person he was trying to avoid.

“Vasquez.”

Sasha looked over, “Is that your boss?”

Rhys shook his head, “Listen, we don’t have time for thi-”

Vasquez cut him off, “Then let me make this quick. You screwed me Rhys. I’ll admit that, good job. But let’s make a deal. You bring that money back and I’ll give you your old job back. What do you say? Oh, only one thing. We’re gonna’ have to put the whole thing on Vaughn.”

Rhys stared at Vasquez in shock, “And why the hell would I do that?”

Sasha killed a bandit inches from Rhys, “GET OFF THE PHONE Rhys!”

Rhys looked back to Vasquez who continued on, “Why Rhys? Because the company is missing some money. Money I need, money I don’t have and money you have. So you bring it back safe and sound and you know what, we can split it fifty-fifty. Vaughn takes the fall and we are… good.”

He didn’t believe a word Vasquez was saying and there was no way he would turn Vaughn over. Without another word, Rhys hung up the call. Sasha smirked,

“Smooth move. Now, get your ass up and let’s move!”

Rhys followed Sasha towards one of the bandit’s holding the case. He ran towards a big gate, which he immediately turned around from and was being chased down by a badass skag. The bandit didn’t even have a chance as the skag took a bite out of him and held on. Rhys tried to get the bandit out but only tore the guy apart, making Rhys want to puke. The skag stared at Rhys and he stared back, being growled at. They ran from the skag and dodged behind a few crates. Zero came flying down and Bossanova caused a shockwave, pushing everyone aside. Rhys was stuck between the skag and tight place. Zero’s blade fell only inches from him. With a split second decision, Rhys grabbed the blade and used it to cut through the on coming skag, splitting it down the middle. The blood and guts sprayed onto Rhys as the bandit and case came flying out of it. Sasha came running over,

“Nice one man! Now where’s the case?"

She saw it and went to approach it but Zero blocked her way as they picked up their blade. Bossanova caused another shockwave and the case was long gone, entering and landing somewhere within the death race. As the battle continued between the two, all Rhys and Sasha could do was watch the death race and hope that somehow, Fiona and Vaughn would be okay and the case would be in their possession.

It was like they were watching everything in slow motion. Explosions, crashes and screams echoed around the arena and somehow Fiona and Vaughn stayed alive. Fiona was strong and knew she’d be able to get at the case, what she wasn’t expecting was the entire truck to get lifted and pulled upwards, causing the case to fly away. Fiona followed it and Felix caught it, pulling back into the caravan. Without a second thought, Fiona was able to jump on and entered the caravan. What happened next, no one was expecting. The caravan ended up flipping towards the edge of the arena, trying to escape but the wheels couldn’t grip properly, that’s when Sasha began shouting, running towards the scene.

“Felix! What the hell is happening? Oh God, FIONA!”

Rhys stayed close by. Fiona was reaching out for Felix as he pushed the caravan back to the track, leaving Fiona yelling something. For a second, Rhys saw the case open, knowing what was inside. They both saw Felix throw the case into the air and with that, it exploded. He had detonated the bomb, with all the money inside. The bits and pieces flew around them. Rhys’ heart practically dropped,

“No, no. NO!”

Rhys didn’t have time to mourn as Bossanova came crashing down only a few feet away from Rhys. Zero didn’t hesitate and stabbed Bossanova. With a trick up his sleeve, he pulled his platform on top of both of them. Once the dust faded, Rhys stared at an impaled Zero. Zero’s head twisted to Rhys, breathing perfectly fine.

“How?”

Zero’s figure flickered and their real self appeared. As they left, they began speaking into their ECHO to someone else, as Rhys heard the sound of multiple footsteps approach him. Vaughn was the first to reach Rhys. They smiled at each other and Rhys was just happy he was alive. Out of nowhere, Sasha and Fiona rushed by.

“Sasha, about what happened with Felix-”

Sasha shoved Fiona off, “Just stop, okay?”

She walked off leaving Fiona. Vaughn cleared his throat and whispered to Rhys,

“They uh… had a falling out with Felix. He tried to take the money for himself but as you saw, the bomb detonated and he got away.”

Fiona began running down her mental list out loud, “So. We have no actual vault key, no money, unless you want to tape the burnt pieces together. We have nothing.”

Rhys felt sick and Vaughn looked defeated. Vaughn spat out,

“We have nothing. I mean, what do we even do now?”

Sasha began, “You search everything. Take what seems valuable and you sell it.”

Vaughn scuffed, “Yeah but nothing worth ten million dollars-”

“You got any other ideas?”

Vaughn went quiet. Rhys grabbed his mechanical arm and sighed.

Fiona practically laughed in their faces, “Well, you came to Pandora. Now you get to live, eat and breathe like us.”

They split up and all began picking up items. Sasha found a bit of cash on a few people, some trash and even a new pistol, but it was busted. Fiona found her hat, a new shield and some broken glass which she mistakened for diamonds. Vaughn found a shield and nearly began crying, while Rhys couldn’t take in what just happened.

“This junk isn’t worth anything-”

Sasha cut Rhys off by throwing the pistol at him, “This may be busted but find the right dealer and it’s a hundred bucks.”

“Great, get a hundred thousand more and we’ll be set.”

Out of nowhere, Rhys’ Loader Bot returned, shaking the area and causing the ground around Rhys to collapse.

“RHYS!”

Rhys took a hard fall against a cool floor, banging his head hard and briefly lost his vision. His ECHO eye flickered on as Rhys adjusted his head and slowly sat up.

Vaughn shouted from above, “RHYS? ARE YOU OKAY?”

He looked around, stood up and walked towards the hole he fell through.

“I’m fine! Totally fine.”

Rhys could see everyone. Sasha poked her head in, “Good. Cause it doesn’t look like there’s a safe way down to you. See if you can find anything to get you out.”

He sighed and decided that’s all he COULD do. Vaughn cleared his throat,

“What’s even down there?”

Rhys hadn’t really looked. It looked like an underground lab of some sort, or even an office. He couldn’t be sure.

“There’s a whole bunch of old Atlas tech, a few weapons, may-”

Sasha perked up, “Weapons?!”

Without any difficulty at all, Sasha popped down and pushed one of the buttons on the wall, revealing a new, silver weapon. She was practically drooling on it.

“Is it worth anything?”

Sasha almost didn’t hear Rhys, “Uh yeah. Definitely.”

The others followed Sasha and gathered in the space. Vaughn pushed another button, “OH DUDE. IT’S A RETRO ATLASIO! THESE THINGS DON’T EVEN EXSIST YET!”

“Woah calm down. We aren’t here for gadgets. Think we can sell that for something…more?”

Vaughn adjusted his glasses, “Oh you know we can. Hand it over to the right collector and they’ll practically throw money our way!”

As Fiona joined Rhys, they stared at the last remaining button. Rhys looked to Fiona and nudged his head, “You can do the honors.”

She smirked, “It’s the last one. I don’t see why we both can’t reveal it.”

“You know, I was hoping you’d say something like that.”

They both moved their hands on the button and the entire office shook. Behind them, a separate compartment opened, revealing two mechanical pieces. Rhys’ jaw hit the floor and Fiona laughed,

“Those look-”

“Incredibly valuable? Yeah. Dibs the bigger piece!”

They picked up the pieces and right away noticed that it was like two separate pieces meant to go together.

Vaughn and Sasha walked over and were confused, “What is it?”

Rhys shrugged, “No idea.”

Fiona gently placed hers above Rhys and like a magnet, they pulled and connected. They gathered around as the now single piece floated in air, flickering to life and revealing a holographic GP. It expanded to a holographic form of Pandora, leading them to what appeared to be a vault. Rhys' head started to ache again. Fiona spoke up first,

“Is that… a map?”

_“So she’s the brain of the outfit.”_

That voice again….

_“Is that…a map? I-I-I don’t know, it’s sooo confusing.”_

No, it can’t be.

Rhys looked around, unable to find the source of the voice. He realized no one else was reacting and he was the only one hearing it. The voice became whole and Rhys’ stomach nearly fell at the realization of _whose_ voice it was.

_“This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Gortys Project…and it’s gonna’ lead us to a vault….”_

Rhys turned slowly as the voice continued,

_“And then I’ll probably kill you.”_

Rhys turned to see a blue hologram and full figure of the man himself. Handsome Jack.

He jumped and nearly screamed,

“ARH!”

Everyone looked at Rhys and panicked. Fiona jumped next to Rhys,

“Arh what?”

Rhys stared at Jack as Jack placed his holographic hand on his shoulder.

“Rhysie! It’s been awhile. What’s happenin’?”

“I-Uh.”

Rhys mind didn’t know how to feel, act or think. Let alone if he believed what he was seeing was actually real. Jack stared at Rhys briefly and sighed, walking off towards another part of the office,

“You know, teaming up with bandits? Vault Hunters? Last thing I’d think you’d be doing and MAN is that low. Especially with me wanting them all dead. Come on kitten, times a wastin’.”

Vaughn poked Rhys in the side, “Everything okay buddy?”

To them, it looked like Rhys was losing his mind. He was staring into nothingness, panicking and practically talking to himself. Sasha wasn’t paying attention and was trying to get the map to ‘enhance’ while Fiona and Vaughn tried to get Rhys’ attention. Jack walked to the highest part of the office, looking around,

“Man. It’s like Atlas was _begging_ us to take this!”

Slowly, Rhys followed Jack. He tried to form some sort of sense into anything but nothing came out of his mouth. Jack, however, had plenty to say.

“Well? Come on, cupcake! What’s the hold up?”

Rhys hesitated, scared abs uncomfortable with the situation but Jack had no patience.

“I said… GET OVER HERE!”

Rhys ran at Jack as he continued to ramble on,

“I know, you hate me, Rhysie, but now you gotta’ pay extra close attention. We follow the Gortys project right into… well you already figured that out. A vault dumbo! Now listen-“

Rhys finally got his breath back with his mind racing to only one thing, “Jack. How… are you here?”

Jack crossed his arms and scuffed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rhys sighed and rubbed his throbbing head, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Jack smirked and walked closer to Rhys, nearly colliding with him, “Getting impatient Rhysie. Whatever you gotta’ say, spit it out.”

Rhys looked away from Jack and held his flesh hand in his mechanical one. His hand was shaking slightly and he cringed. Having Jack back was confusing to say the least. Rhys wasn’t even sure it was real.

_Is it real?_

“Jack…do you remember anything else?”

Jack no longer smiled, “Seriously kiddo, you askin’ me all this…What Rhys? It’s like you’re looking at a ghost right now.”

Rhys swallowed the lump that formed in his mouth and did his best to tell Jack the inevitable truth.

“Well. Jack uh. You see- I’ve never had to do this before but you’re… actually a ghost. Literally. You can’t be here because you…died. You’re dead.”

Jack was nearly growling. He reached out his hand and tried to grab Rhys’ neck, causing Rhys to scream. A yell of protest from Fiona came from below,

“What the hell was that Rhys? Ahh. Let’s try this again.”

Thankfully for Rhys, Jack’s hand fazed through him sending chills down his spine.

“This is…weird. Come here Rhysie. It’ll be quick.”

Rhys continued to back up as Jack tried to grab him, but every movement he made went right through Rhys. Rhys attempted to shoo him away but nothing worked for him. Tears he didn’t know he had were forming in Rhys’ eyes,

“I’m serious Jack! You died down there with that vault! The vault hunters won and that was it!”

Jack chuckled to himself but he wasn’t smiling, “No no no no. You’re wrong. Handsome Jack… doesn’t die. NO ONE kills Handsome Jack.”

Rhys rubbed his face and held on for as long as he could, “I’m sorry Jack.”

Jack looked away from Rhys but smiled and laughed, trying to grab Rhys again,

“Just come here, it’ll be fine.”

Rhys backed up until he couldn’t anymore. He bumped into a fence, lost his footing and fell backwards, landing hard and losing his sight. Vaughn was by him shaking his shoulder.

“Bro! You okay?”

Rhys opened his eyes and felt another headache. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked back to where Jack was standing but he was no longer there. Just like that, he was gone. Rhys put his hand on Vaughn’s shoulder,

“I don’t know anymore. Haaaa. I just saw Handsome Jack.”

Vaughn smirked and shook his head, “Really bumped your head, didn’t you? Come on.”

Vaughn helped Rhys stand and that’s when Sasha spoke up,

“Uh guys?

Sasha was pointing towards the hole in the ceiling and that’s when they saw,

“Moonshots.”

Sasha laughed, “MOONSHOTS? REALLY?! I thought you worked for them.”

Rhys scuffed, “Not anymore.”

Fiona and Rhys picked up their ‘treasure’ while Loader Bot helped the group back up to the surface. They ran into the caravan and blasted off towards Hollow Point. Rhys took the wheel and avoided the moonshots as best as he could but they ran into a Rakkhive. Fiona and Sasha started firing at them while Vaughn continued to swing a frying pan around. The caravan boost was almost ready as Rhys hovered his hand above it. 

“Come on. COME ONNN!”

A moonshot hit the back of the caravan, tearing the back apart. He heard screams and the Rakk Hive jump over the caravan. As if planned all along. Rhys used the boost and caused the moonshot to hit the RakkHive directly. He stood in victory but only lost his footing, flung out of the caravan and hit Vaughn on the way. Fiona tried to grab one of them but missed. Rhys and Vaughn fell out of the caravan, hitting the dirt and bouncing along the ground. With that, they were separated from the others and knocked out cold.

_Rhysssiieeeee. RHYYSSSSSSS._

“HEY RHYS!”

Rhys yelped and almost hit Vaughn. He felt his sides ache and his head was throbbing.

“Sorry. Ahh. Where are we?”

Vaughn laughed, “You tell me.”

Vaughn helped Rhys up and they walked towards some of the other caravan debris that had followed them out. Rhys leaned against a rock and rubbed his head. Vaughn had a cut on his cheek and Rhys pointed at him,

“You okay, bro?”

Vaughn frowned and shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, one minute we’re completely safe up on Helios and the next we’re working with bandits and being chased down by maniacs and a Rakkhive. Am I fine?!”

Rhys winced at Vaughn’s tone but immediately cut it short as Vaughn began laughing,

“AM I FINE?! HA. BRO. I FEEL ALIVE! HAHAHAHA. THIS IS AMAZING!”

Rhys couldn’t help but smile, “Glad to hear buddy. But one thing, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but we gotta’ find our way back to Fiona and Sasha.”

The voice returned, “Oh yeah. Cause you know, trusting bandits is EXACLY how I died in the first place…”

Rhys jumped and screamed as Jack came into view, standing only feet away from Rhys.

“Fuck, Jack!”

Jack smirked and winked, “Language. But maybe another time kitten.”

Vaughn turned to his buddy, eyebrow cocked, “Jack?”

Rhys sighed and looked between Vaughn and the blue Jack, “Remember when I said I saw Jack?”

Vaughn nodded, still not understanding, “Yeah. After you bashed your head?”

Rhys sighed and heard Jack chuckle, “You know Rhysie, he’s gonna’ think your nuts.”

Rhys ignored the comment and continued, “It was before than bro. And I know it sounds crazy but… Jack’s here.” He waved at the spot Jack stood, “I can hear and see him perfectly.”

Vaughn stared at Rhys and didn’t move. Rhys looked to his friend who almost appeared to not be breathing. He shrugged and crossed his arms,

“Well Vaughn?”

Vaughn smirked and shook his head, “I think you may be dehydrated. Because I am. And we almost died back there so-”

Jack laughed, “Told yeah.”

Rhys stood and got closer to Vaughn, “I’m being serious man! Please, you have to believe me. I-I don’t know bro. After installing Nakayama’s drive, my whole systems been glitched and now this? It can’t be a coincidence!”

Vaughn bit his lip as Jack walked into view again, “Wait, Naka…Nakayama. Why does that sound familiar?”

Rhys rolled his eyes and stared at his buddy. He put his arm behind his back and smirked up to Rhys.

“Okay, prove it. Tell Jack to look at my fingers. How many am I holding up?”

Jack walked behind him and squirmed at the sight, “I mean, his ass is a bit small but”

“Jack, fingers. How many?”

Hearing Rhys’ irritation, Jack chuckled to himself, “Three.”

“Three Vaughn. Your holding up three fingers."

He frowned, “Lucky… guess.”

Rhys ran his hand threw his hair, “Vaughn please, I’m being serious man. He’s right here.”

Vaughn crossed his arms, “Okay. Weird. I mean, What are the chances that the one guy who was Jack's assistant and almost died by Jack's hand ends up with him in his head?”

Rhys flinched at the mention and Jack cocked his eyes. Rhys tried to avoid Jack’s eyes, “Can we move on and just figure out how we're gonna get to Fiona and Sasha?”

Vaughn cut him off, “I mean, don’t you find it a bit weird that we just so happen to find Nakayama and his drive and YOU happen to be the one to gain Jack. Doesn’t it seem a bit…”

Jack huffed, “Weird.”

Rhys rolled his eyes, “Regardless of how we-I ended up with him. How do we get him out?”

Jack’s eyes went wide, “Well now that’s a thought. WAIT. OHHH NAKAYAMA! He was that weirdo science guy who was obsessed with me. NOW it makes sense. HA. His plans worked.”

Rhys stopped and looked to Jack, “Wait, what plans?”

Before Rhys could ask, his ECHO went off, scaring the group of them. Vaughn ran around the rock,

“I gotta’ pee!”

Reluctantly, Rhys picked it up and he couldn’t believe his eyes,

“Yvette?”

She smiled wide and nearly screamed when she saw Rhys, “OH THANK GOD! I thought you two were dead!”

Rhys smirked, “It’s good to see you too.”

Vaughn yelled over, “It’s Yvette?! Tell her to send down supplies! I’m starving!”

Rhys nodded, “Vaughn said if you can, send down supplies.”

Yvette typed, “I’ll do my best. I was able to get them to stop shooting you guys down but only for now. Vasquez is determined. Whatever you guys are doing, you should stop and just head back.”

Rhys felt his stomach grumble, “Not to be rude Yvette, but I’m pretty sure if we step up on that station, we’ll get shot down. Plus, we’ve got a plan.”

Yvette looked strained, “Look, I’ve got a tracker on you and I’ll send down supplies as soon as I can but just try not to get yourselves killed. Whatever your plan is better be worth more than the ten million you lost.”

Rhys frowned and nodded, “We understand. Just…stay safe Yvette.”

“You too Rhys.”

With that, she was gone. Rhys sighed as Vaughn came back into view without his shirt on and instead wrapped on his head. Jack stared laughing,

“WOAH abs! That was unexpected! HA.”

Jack started putting his hands towards Vaughn but as per the new usual, Jack’s hands slid through. For the first time, Jack sighed and looked at his hands,

“I hate this.”

Rhys looked at Vaughn and smirked, “Been workin’ out?”

Vaughn smiled and put his hands on his hips, “Guess you could say that. Just trying to keep myself in shape.”

They stood in silence for a bit as Jack continued to click his tongue. Rhys closed his eyes and tried to ignore the noise.

“So what now?”

Rhys opened his eyes to Vaughn with arms crossed, “I guess we head back to the girls. We know they're headed to Hollow Point.”

Vaughn sighed, “Yeah but what about after that? Are we actually going after whatever this vault is or-”

Rhys couldn’t hear the rest of Vaughn’s statement as Jack spoke, “Definitely going after the Vault. Doubt you two will even MAKE it that far, but considering I’m in YOUR head, I’ve got no other choice.”

Rhys rubbed his arms, “Guess we’ll see.”

With that, they began walking towards Hollow Point. It barely came into view when Rhys and Vaughn heard a Moonshot fire. They flinched, preparing for it, but Rhys smiled.

“That’s gotta’ be the supplies.”

Jack started laughing hysterically, “Oh, that’s it alright. INCOMING!”

Rhys face dropped, “It’s headed right for us….”

Vaughn started running, “IT’S HEADED RIGHT FOR US!”

Rhys barely missed the shot and a car pulled out, skidding to halt just inches away from them. The car’s windows rolled down and to their surprise, Vasquez face came into view. Jack was still laughing as Vasquez stepped out with a gun and smirked at Vaughn and Rhys.

“Well, look what we got here. A liar AND a stealer.”

Rhys stood in front of Vaughn, “How’d you find us?”

Vasquez pointed the gun at him, “I’ll ask the questions. Listen, you put me in a tight spot and unfortunately, you aren’t getting out of this alive. Our deals off.”

Rhys jaw fell, “I didn’t make-”

Vaughn cut him off, “YEAH IT’S OFF. And to think I could trust you.”

Rhys stared at his friend, “Vaughn?”

Vaughn looked at Rhys and immediately closed his mouth.

Vasquez sighed, “I’ve got shovels in the trunk. Start digging your grave. Except you, Rhys. Company wants your head. Didn’t specify dead or alive so…”

Vasquez brought his gun up to Rhys’ head and smacked him hard, making him fall. He walked over to the trunk and pulled out two shovels, throwing one to Vaughn and one on the ground with Rhys.

“Well ladies, start digging.”

Vaughn didn’t hesitate and began pushing in the dirt. Rhys spit up blood and slowly got up.

 _You’re kidding me._

He grabbed his shovel and didn’t hesitate throwing it Vasquez’s way. He dodged it and it smashed in one of the car windows. Rhys huffed,

“I honestly meant that to hit you.”

Vasquez grinned and aimed the gun at Rhys, “Guess dead it is.”

The gun loaded, powered up but immediately shut down. Rhys folded his arms,

“Sure you know how to work that thing.”

Vasquez looked over the gun, “Yeah. Of-Of course I do. Just wanna’ get the maximum power out of it.”

As he searched the gun, Rhys looked over at Vaughn,

“How could you man? I trusted you!”

Vaughn whisper yelled at him, “I swear man, I wasn’t going to keep the deal. I did it just to get them off our backs! It was nothing bro, I swear!”

Jack crossed his arms and stood in front of Rhys, “Listen cupcake, as much as I’d love to see you two argue, I can’t let you two die. Especially with me in you. Well, not like that. Not that I’d LOVE that. Anyways, I need permission to update your subsystems. It’ll allow you to hack the car and that gun. Maybe add a little flare to our situation, know what I’m sayin’?”

Rhys looked at Jack and shrugged, “Honestly, it’s all we got. Do it.”

Jack smirked and put his finger on Rhys’ port, sending sparks into his head, causing Rhys to jump. 

“Watch it, Jack! That kind of hurt.”

Jack shrugged, “I did say it would add FLARE.”

Rhys opened his systems and found that he could now hack into the car and gun systems. He wanted to blow the gun up in Vasquez’s face but he thought of a better idea. He turned the car on, had it blast music and drive around to come back and run over Vasquez. Jack hollered loud,

“MAN! Did you see him FLY?! HAAA RHYSIE THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!”

Vaughn dropped his shovel, “RUN!”

They began running away from Vasquez, who awoke only seconds later from the hit and began chasing them with the car. Just when Rhys thought it was a victory short lived, Loader Bot flew to them and picked them up, bringing them far from danger. They heard Vasquez shout to the skies but for now, they were safe. Rhys felt lightheaded and closed his eyes to feel the wind. That’s when he heard Vaughn sigh loudly,

“I meant what I said bro. That deal? It wasn’t for real bro. I did it to get them off of us. I swear. I would never EVER betray you man. After all this? Why would I?”

Rhys turned his ECHO on and off to calm himself but found his hands were shaking. He realized he hadn’t taken his anxiety medication in over a day and it was already taking its toll. Rhys smirked towards Vaughn,

“Next time, give me a heads up.”

Vaughn smiled and brought his fist up towards Rhys, “We’re bros, bro.”

Rhys and Vaughn bro-fisted, “Love you bro.”

Jack coughed, "Kiss. AHEM."

Rhys groaned, "Nice Jack. Real nice."

Vaughn looked to where Rhys was staring and saw nothing, “He’s still here?”

Rhys sighed, “Guess so.”

Jack crossed his arms, “Well thanks. That didn’t sound very nice.”

Rhys smirked and rubbed his hands, “So, where to Vaughn?”

Vaughn patted Loader Bot, “Could yeah take us to Hollow Point LB?”

Rhys squinted his eyes at Vaughn, “LB?”

Vaughn shrugged and smiled, “Sounds like a chill nickname. That cool with you LB?”

Loader Bot spoke as cheerfully as they could, “AFFIRMATIVE. TO HOLLOW POINT. BRO.”

They turned and took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh babbyyyyy! Things be rolling. I'm using some of my old story because it's hell trying to rewrite all the tales details haha. Also known as I'm lazy and just wanna get the story going.


	8. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang come together but stumble into some trouble along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stealing from my other fic to outline this haha. I'm lazy. But I want to get the story going so is what it is.

In the distance, Rhys and Vaughn spotted Hollow Point. They heard gunshots, explosions and motorcycles. Once in, the noises only grew louder. 

Vaughn pointed towards one of the buildings,

“There! Land there LB. I swear I saw Fiona!”

LB landed on a psycho. Fiona smiled up at the three of them, 

“About time!”

Rhys helped Sasha up and Fiona ran on. Something smashed into LB before they took off. Sasha was practically screaming,

“YES! OH GOD THAT WAS CLOSE!”

Sasha began laughing and punched Rhys in the arm.

“Ow.”

She continued to laugh and Rhys couldn’t help but blush. Fiona sighed,

“Wait. Loader Bot? Uh… Mind taking us towards Scooters place? It’s just around the corner.”

Vaughn shrugged and gave LB a thumbs up,

“It’s okay bro. Let’s do it.”

There, Scooter couldn’t stop nervously giggling around the two girls. Newly sitting in the garage was a fixed up and styled caravan! They all hopped onto the caravan, LB sat on the roof and they began speeding off back into the wasteland. Vaughn took the wheel from Sasha as she walked towards Fiona and Rhys arguing,

“Rhys, I’m telling you. That map had Old Haven. The next step to whatever this Gortys vault project is, it’s there.”

Jack popped up to the mention of a vault. He was already smiling. “Should follow your gut, but Hat here isn’t wrong.”

Vaughn spoke from the driver seat, “What’s an Old Haven?”

Sasha snorted, “It’s an old Atlas town. Been abandon for a while though. Sure the next stop is there?”

Fiona nodded, “I’m POSITIVE. We’re in this. The worst that happens is there’s nothing there.”

Jack was waving his hands and pointing at Fiona. Whatever Jack wanted and planned on getting with this project, it was clearly already making him happy. Rhys wanted to go against him but the project seemed to be their only hope of getting something that could help them get back home. Whenever something on Pandora made Jack happy though, it was either really bad, death included with a vault or something far worse. Rhys hands started to shake but he squeezed his hands and clenched his teeth.

Rhys ignored Jack pointing at Fiona and sighed, “Fine.”

Vaughn spoke up, “Uh, not to interrupt again, but Fiona? Mind taking the wheel? I actually have no clue where I’m going.”

Fiona smirked and chuckled to herself. She took the wheel and pointed to the back.

“Might as well crash while you can. It’ll be another few hours before we hit the town.”

Sasha sprawled out on the seats, “Already ahead of you.”

Rhys tried to calm his shaking down but his mind got the worst of him.

_What’s in Old Haven? Why is it so important? What if we die finding whatever we’re looking for? Why exactly is Jack so excited about this? Jack's back in your life and there's nothing you can do about it._

Rhys noticed his hands get clammy and his breathing began to pick up. He looked towards the ladder that led to the roof and shut his eyes briefly to focus on speaking,

“I’m-I doubt I’ll be able to sleep. I’m gonna’ get some air. K-Kind of hot.”

Vaughn looked over and noticed immediately, “Uh. I’ll join.”

He walked up to Rhys and patted his back, giving him the signal to go. They climbed the top as Sasha spoke back,

“Just be sure to hold onto the rails. Gets damn windy up there.”

Vaughn shut the hatch as Rhys crashed onto his butt and immediately began hyperventilating. Tears streaked his face and Vaughn kneeled in front of him. Speaking just loud enough for Rhys to hear,

“Just breathe. Come on. Let it out. You got this Rhys. Focus on breathing.”

Rhys tried but only began panicking more. In that moment, Rhys realized just how much his medication helped him on a daily basis. Even within the year, he had to up his dosage slightly to allow him to sleep at night but going cold after a year made not only his brain panic, but also his entire system was thrown off. Jack popped up and was kneeling beside Vaughn. He looked from Rhys to Vaughn and back to Rhys.

“The hell is wrong with you? It's clearly not the first time he’s seen you freak, hmm?”

Rhys ignored him and closed his eyes but he could feel Jack’s stares. Jack was making it worse. 

Jack continued, “Sure as hell weird watching it.”

Rhys tried to breath but clenched his teeth as his lungs began to hurt. Vaughn had both of his hands on Rhys arms, rubbing them and staring at Rhys.

“You got this bro. Just let out what you need.”

Jack kept speaking over Vaughn, “I mean, freaking out isn't going to make the situation better."

Rhys pushed out what he could,

“Sh-sh-ut up.”

Vaughn immediately looked away from Rhys. Rhys looked up to his friend and felt guilt sit in his stomach.

“N-no. N-n-not you. J-Jack.”

Vaughn looked up and around. Jack scuffed and stood, staring down at the two of them. Vaughn looked at Rhys.

“Look at me buddy.”

Rhys did his best but couldn’t see Vaughn past his tears,

“I-I’m tr-ying-”

Vaughn squeezed his arms, “Shhh. It’s okay. Shit. I’m sorry Rhys.”

Rhys shook his head and tried to stop Vaughn. Rhys wanted to scream, wanted to punch something and wanted to escape Pandora, wanted to be out of his own brain but his body would never allow that. He curled his legs up to his chest and was able to gain some big gulps of air. However, Jack wouldn’t stay quiet,

“Rhysie. What'd you do? Forgot to take your meds or something?”

Rhys glared up to Jack, “I-I didn’t plan on being down here this long. S-so no. I didn’t.”

Vaughn looked towards the empty space and back to Rhys.

“What’s he saying?”

Rhys avoided his friend’s eyes and concentrated on his words.

“B-be-ing an asshole.”

Vaughn smirked, “Not surprised.”

Rhys tried to smile but was only able to clench his teeth,

“H-he asked about my m-meds. D-don’t have meds.”

Vaughn’s jaw slightly hung open, “Shit. Yeah. That explains...”

Rhys nodded in agreement, his breathing slowing down in waves. They went quiet and it helped Rhys stay calm. LB was the only other person on the roof but they seemed to be sleeping.

_Do robots sleep?_

Rhys smirked to himself. If they did, he wished LB the best of sleeps. Vaughn sighed and let go of Rhys.

“Better?”

Rhys nodded and smiled up to Vaughn, “Yeah. Uh- sorry.”

Vaughn held his hands up, “Nope. Not having that.”

Vaughn laughed which only made Rhys feel more relieved. He wiped his eyes and noticed Vaughn shuffle on his knees.

“Sup bro?”

Vaughn sighed, “Kind of just…Don’t freak. And I promise not to say anything unless you tell me other wise. But are you going to tell the others about… Jack?”

Jack immediately perked up and scuffed, “No. Bad idea Rhysie. You’ll ruin the whole plan.”

Rhys sighed and looked to Vaughn, “Jack says if I tell, it’ll ruin the plan.”

Vaughn rolled his eyes, “Of course he’d say that. Saving his own ass as usual. I mean, isn’t it better if we’re just honest off the bat? Gain more of their trust?”

Rhys looked to Jack who immediately laughed, “Yeah. Trust. No. ALL wrong Abs. If it weren’t for Rhys being the only other one who can touch the Gortys piece, they would kick our sorry Asses to the curb. Can’t trust anyone on this God damn pl-”

Rhys cut Jack off, “Jack’s got a point. I’m the only other person who can touch the Gortys piece. If it were Fiona AND Sasha, they’d probably get rid of us.”

Vaughn crossed his arms, “Yeah, okay. Maybe. Look, they did just as we did. We both tried to screw someone, only ending in screwing ourselves.”

Jack was kicking Vaughn, his foot going through him, “WRONG! They. Are. Bandits. And. Can’t. Be. Trusted.”

Rhys ignored Jack, “We screwed each other and in a way Vaughn, we need them just as they need us. We’re not the only ones with someone after us.”

Vaughn sighed, “I guess that’s true. But why can’t we just tell them?”

Rhys looked at Jack, who was now pulling his hand around Vaughn’s head,

“Trust me, I want to tell them, but let’s wait until we figure out what this next piece is. Then I’ll come clean.”

Jack stopped and looked at Rhys, “Come ON Rhys! I-We’re dead if you do that.”

“In case you forgot Jack, You’re already dead. And honestly, I trust them. They’ve saved our asses one too many times and now we’re even. We make a good team and now we got this map straight to a vault. If it’s worth more than that ten million, which it clearly is worth more, it’s almost worth getting my head cut off, then I’m going all the way to find the damn thing and I’d be happy to do so with them.”

Vaughn smiled and nodded, “Then it’s settled. We’ll wait until after Old Haven! MAN this is exciting!”

Rhys felt himself getting cold and shivered, “For now, let’s head down and try to get some sleep.”

Vaughn yawned in response, “I second that.”

They opened the hatch, and Vaughn collapsed next to Sasha. Rhys attempted to sleep on the small mat on the floor but found Jack staring down at him. Rhys looked to Fiona to make sure she was too focused and whispered to Jack,

“What?”

Jack pretended to kick Rhys, causing Rhys to flinch, “You. Are. An. Idiot.”

Rhys sighed and rolled over, “Just shh. Let me sleep.”

“I cannot believe you trust them. Pathetic. Funny, you know? I’ve known you a hell of a lot longer and yet, you choose these complete strangers.”

Rhys had trusted Jack. Had. Jack ruined Rhys' life and even almost killed him. For once, Rhys was in control and Jack was taking a back seat. As far as Rhys was aware, this was his body and his own choice. Not Jack’s.

Jack glitched next to Rhys’ face, scaring Rhys. Fiona noticed and called over,

“Everything okay? Did a spider scare you?”

Rhys rolled his eyes, “Ha. Ha. No. Just, sort of scared myself.”

Fiona giggled, “Ah. Wanna’ take the wheel?

Rhys sighed and stood, “Sure.”

He turned his echo on and marked his map for Old Haven.

“Any idea what I should be looking out for?”

Fiona yawned and headed down towards the mat, “I guess an old Atlas facility? That seems to be the theme.”

Rhys nodded and continued to drive the rest of the night. Jack was there. It scared Rhys having the man that almost killed him basically trapped with him. He continued to annoy Rhys, blaming him for what happened but Rhys did his best to stay calm and focus on driving. Jack eventually gave up and took watch. He didn't trust the others and was worried one of them was going to try and stab Rhys, killing both of them. Rhys found it unlikely but Jack didn’t trust any of them. When he was bored out of his mind, Jack would constantly and slowly run his hands through Rhys’ body, which would cause Rhys to flinch but wouldn’t actually feel anything. He heard Sasha yawn and sit up from behind him. Jack announced her movement, 

“Goggles approaching.”

Sasha patted Rhys arm and he smirked, “Have a good nap?”

She shrugged, “Bumpy but better than nothing. We getting close?”

Rhys nodded, “Yeah. Might as well wake up the rest.”

Sasha headed towards the others and shook their shoulders. She looked over at their kitchen area and began warming up a pan.

“Can’t go adventuring on an empty stomach.”

Rhys parked as they all gathered to eat. LB kept watch and squished anything that moved around them. They weren’t too far from the site but decided to eat and plan while they could. They knew no actual bandits would be around but getting into the Atlas facility would be a bit tough. Not to mention, Rhys and Vaughn were pretty sure they were still being tracked. Rhys was able to scan them but couldn’t understand how they were being tracked, aside from Rhys’ own port. He tried to disable whatever he could but he wouldn’t know if it worked or not unless someone showed up to prove him other wise. Once Fiona took the wheel again, they arrived to the location and found it next to empty. Rhys scanned the surroundings and found electrical panels leading into the ground. With a few re-wires and a few switches flicked, the entire facility came rising up from the ground. All of them were stunned. Sasha was the first to speak and aim her gun at the entrance,

“Well? We walking in or what?”

Rhys walked in front of her, “Woah. Hold on. We have no clue what awaits.”

Fiona snorted, “If the last place had nothing and two KEYS to the damn project, I doubt this place will either.”

Fiona walked right into the entrance and nothing happened. She even jumped around a few times before landing a finishing bow.

“See? Perfectly fine.”

Vaughn looked at Rhys and shrugged. Rhys sighed and felt himself shake. He ignored it and walked forward. Jack whistled at the sight.

“Atlas man. Hated those guys but damn is there old stuff cool.”

Rhys smirked, “Yeah. Pretty sweet.”

The first sight of blood turned Rhys’ stomach. Fiona checked a few of the bodies and shook her head,

“Looks like someone got here before we could.”

Rhys could smell the blood and immediately stuck out his tongue, “Great.”

Sasha shrugged, “Lance too. At least we don’t have to deal with them.”

Jack laughed, “Well, make that one issue down.”

Rhys was confused until he heard someone slow clapping behind him.

“Bravo. Figured out about this old project. Man, it would’ve been nice to see you all get shot but I guess that’ll have to wait.”

Rhys looked at LB, “GET HIM LB.”

The robot spoke loudly, “WITH PLEASURE.”

Vasquez pulled out a remote, “Ah ah, nice try.”

He pushed a button and with mere inches next to his face, LB was frozen. He looked at Rhys.

“I HAVE FAILED YOU FATHER.”

And fell with a clunk.

Sasha aimed her gun at Vasquez but immediately saw August walk in and smirked, pointing his gun at Fiona. Fiona flung her pistol towards August and they were in a stand off. Out of nowhere, a couple of guys ran at Rhys and Vaughn and held guns to their heads.

“Drop the guns ladies or these two will join the floor party.”

Fiona looked to Sasha and waited. Sasha lowered her gun and dropped it to the ground. Fiona pulled her gun back but didn’t flinch to drop it. Vasquez whistled and more bandits appeared, surrounding them and guns ready. He smirked and nudged his head towards the front.

“Well? Keep moving.”

Jack slow clapped, “Bravo. Wallethead gets you AGAIN?! Shocker. No but for real, I’m gonna’ hang in the back of your head just in case this ends badly. Ciao!”

Rhys clenched his jaw and watched Jack disappear as they continued further into the facility.

They reached the main area where two doors that resembled the keys stuck out. Rhys turned his ECHO on and off and immediately sighed. He looked towards the rest and they all looked defeated.

_Great._

Vasquez halted everyone and smirked at Rhys.

“Really thought you could get away, didn’t you?”

Rhys avoided his eye contact, “Let’s just get this over with.”

August stood forwards, “Fine. Where’s the key?”

Rhys pulled out his half and smiled as he handed it to August. He immediately yelped as it shocked him, landing on the floor. August stared at him and punched him hard in the stomach. Rhys fell to the floor as Vasquez laughed and patted August,

“Forgot to mention. The keys? Yeah. They do that.”

Sasha ran to Rhys’ side and helped him up.

“You guys are real jackasses, you know that?”

August laughed sourly, “Yeah. Can say the same to you, Sash.”

She grinded her teeth and got Rhys stable. He weakly nodded and looked at August who examined the one key and the doors.

“Two keys, two doors. Two ways. What do you think Vasquez?”

He chuckled to himself, “You take hat over there and I’ll take this piece of trash.”

_GREAAATTTT._

Before heading out, Vasquez ordered his men to keep watch of the others and to shoot them if they tried anything. That’s when Rhys and Fiona walked down the different paths and were headed towards the unknown.

Before Rhys barely walked ten feet, Vasquez was on him about everything,

“It makes me wonder what’s so important about you.”

Jack woke and was walking beside Rhys,

“It makes me puke thinkin’ of this guy. Come on Rhys, just mention Wallethead. It’ll be a good laugh.”

Rhys sighed and decided it was all he had to pass the time and quite possibly his life,

“Just shhh and let’s get a move on Wallethead.”

Jack held his laugh in as much as he could. Vasquez froze, turned towards Rhys and punched him hard across the face. Rhys smacked into the wall with a thud and chuckled to himself.

Worth it. 

Vasquez grabbed Rhys by the collar and held him tight,

“Just because Hyperion wants your head doesn't mean I won't kill you.”

Jack laughed, “Didn't he try that already and failed? Go on Rhys. Mention it.”

Rhys hesitated and did it anyways, “That’s the thing, you already had your shot and you blew it.”

Vasquez punched Rhys again. He picked him up off the floor and pushed him to continue down the hall. 

“You're lucky the price on your head is higher with you alive.”

Rhys was a little stunned. Why did they want him alive so badly? Something else was eating away at Rhys,

"How did you even find us? Again?”

Vasquez smirked, “Well, guess we have you to thank for that.”

Rhys face fell. This was his fault. They reached the end of the hall and entered into a galaxy room. Rhys’ jaw fell at the sight,

“Wow.”

Jack smirked and crossed his arms, “Ain’t she pretty?”

Vasquez pushed Rhys forward,

“Well? Plug the key in.”

Rhys did as he was told and was immediately separated from Vasquez. The platform brought him down where he met Fiona. She cocked an eye at him and smirked,

“Nice of you to join.”

Rhys smiled and crossed his arms, “Have a nice chat?”

Fiona shrugged, “Was predictable talk but guess I’m good at knowing what people are going to say. You?”

Rhys rubbed his jaw, “Same. But with more pain."

Fiona snorted, “Fun.”

They got interrupted by a knock on the viewing glass. Vasquez pointed his gun at Vaughn and August did the same with Sasha. Fiona shouted,

“OKAY. WE’RE GOING. Jeeze.”

They looked at the platforms and Rhys scanned around them.

“Looks like we just push them together.”

Fiona grabbed her end and Rhys followed. They struggled to push but finally got the two parts to connect. The system around them worked and heated up as it slowly separated and revealed a full, big, silver sphere.

Fiona chuckled, “This is what everyone’s after? Seriously? A floating sphere?"

Rhys reached out, “Maybe if we-”

It dropped to the ground and began rolling away. Fiona stepped on it and Rhys dived at it, nearly falling off the platform. An alarm blared,

“GORTYS PROJECT COMPROMISED.”

Security bots were alerted but Rhys stood, holding the Sphere close,

“NO! LOOK. IT’S FINE! SEE?”

The robots surrounded them and began to file in after their friends. Rhys saw Vasquez grab Vaughn and used him as a shield,

“VAUGHN!”

Fiona saw August stay firm with his gun on Sasha and they were yelling,

“Sasha! God dammit.”

Rhys froze and held tightly to the ball. Fiona grabbed it out of his hands and held it with one arm as she pulled out what looked like a grenade.

Rhys backed up slightly, “Bit extreme?”

She hesitated, “Just trust me, okay?”

Jack appeared beside Rhys, “Oh no. I don’t think so. Rhys. Man. Please, believe me. You gotta’ let me into your subsystems. I can hack into the bots and take full control of the whole Goddamn facility. I just need permission.”

Rhys stared between Fiona and Jack. He panicked and didn’t know what to do.

Fiona held tight, “COME ON. Rhys, I got this.”

Jack yelled over her, “She’s got NOTHING Rhys. For once, just TRUST ME. I will have this whole place in OUR control. You hearin’ me, muffin?”

Rhys was and he didn’t agree in the slightest. But it was the only thing he saw a safe outcome to. He sighed and looked at Jack.

“Do it.”

Jack double took and smirked,

“Wait, for real?”

Rhys rolled his eyes, “Yes. Just… get us out SAFE.”

Jack laughed and put his finger on Rhys’ port, sending a painful jolt down his head, through his spine and it spread into his entire body. He wanted to scream but it fell just as quickly as it came. Jack used Rhys and hacked into the system, moving Rhys’ arm in swift movements, causing the bots to change from Red to Yellow and turning towards the glass. Fiona looked over and nearly dropped the Gortys Sphere.

“Rhys. What the hell is happening? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Rhys looked towards Fiona but couldn’t move,

“It’s. Not. Me.”

With that, the bots began shooting at the glass, and broke through. Jack laughed hysterically and faded away with the bots. They were shooting at the bandits, at the traitors and at everyone. Rhys panicked and used his new control to bring Fiona and him up to the room. They jumped through and hid in cover. Sasha and Vaughn joined them only seconds later. Sasha was shooting back at the bots,

“Well? What now?”

Fiona glanced at Rhys and grinded her teeth,

“Yeah, Rhys. WHAT NOW? How about YOU STOP THESE THINGS?!”

Rhys shuddered at the tone and tried but nothing seemed to be working. Jack had full control,

“I-I can’t. I lost control. I’m sorry!”

Fiona rolled her eyes and stared at Sasha,

“Get me a gun. A proper fully loaded gun.”

Sasha nodded and shot one of the bandits close by, presenting Fiona with a rifle. She picked it up and immediately began shooting. Vaughn nudged Rhys,

“What about LB? He’s still stuck!”

Rhys glanced at Vasquez who was using LB as a shield and to take down the bots. Rhys sighed and whispered,

“Jack, stop this okay! I need you to help.”

He reappeared, laughing, “Thought you did.”

He looked towards Vasquez and LB,

“Jesus Jack. You said we’d BOTH have control! Stop this shit and help me get LB back.”

Jack smirked and shook his head,

“Nah. I wanna’ have fun. BUT I’ll give you this little guy. Call him Dumpy. Reminds me of you.”

The smallest and loudest of the bots presented itself to Rhys and Rhys could feel he had full control.

“HAVE FUN. KISSES!”

Jack disappeared again and left Rhys with his only little savior.

The bot scream loudly. Rhys sighed,

“Come on little guy. Go shock Vasquez.”

With that, it buzzed and bobbed around until it shocked Vasquez. Vaughn ran out and crushed the remote, gaining a protective LB and he was at their aid.

“HOW CAN I HELP?”

Fiona examined and pointed up at the statue,

“PUSH THIS. Sasha, shoot the ankles.”

A little weakening and a bit of force caused the whole thing to come down, knocking out some bots and almost all of the bandits. LB grabbed everyone and flew everyone out of there. Vaughn cheered, 

“WOOOOOOWWW!”

Rhys laughed but their victory got interrupted. Fiona and Sasha screamed as a rocket launched right at them, LB crash-landed and they all followed.

Fiona looked up and a big, muscular woman stood in front of her, offering a hand. She hesitated but took it,

“Uh. Thanks.”

The woman spoke roughly, “My pleasure.”

Fiona saw movement all around and noticed more bandits, guns aimed at them and ready to fire. The others were slowly helping one another up. Fiona noticed the woman bend over and pick up the silver Gortys Sphere.

“So this is what all the fuss is about. “

Sasha stood and called out, “Fi?”

Fiona put her hand up to stop any more questions and stared at the woman.

The woman smirked and stepped closer to Fiona,

“Looks like you’re the leader of this… group. I can see why you were Felix’s favourite.”

Fiona’s face dropped, “Excuse me-”

“The names Vallory. I’m shocked you don’t remember me. I’ve known about you two since you were stealing watches. Felix never mentioned me?”

Sasha spoke up, “Only briefly. But it was never… positive.”

Vallory chuckled to herself but immediately frowned as she saw August and Vasquez approach. August avoided Vallory’s eyes, while Vasquez greeted her.

“Vallory!”

She hummed, “Hugo. You told me to come by just in case and I guess I came at the right time.”

August looked at Vasquez and sucked his teeth. Vallory noticed and spat at August,

“I’ll speak to you later boy.”

Vallory’s face softened and put her arm around Fiona,

“Now, Fiona. Tell me, who caused me all this pain and a loss of ten million dollars.”

Rhys wanted to object and say it wasn’t hers to begin with but he knew that would possibly kill him. Fiona sighed and spoke softly,

“Felix. I loved the guy but he screwed everything. If it weren’t for him, the deal never would’ve been made and none of this would’ve happened.”

Vallory smirked and patted Fiona’s shoulder a bit too hard,

“Good girl."

Vasquez walked forwards and Vallory glared,

“Now Vallory, we got this far. And look, the Gortys sphere!”

She laughed, “Is it worth more than ten million?”

Jack snorted scaring Rhys, “You have no idea.”

Vasquez continued, “It’s worth more than anything we could ever imagine.”

Vallory picked up the Sphere and held it.

“Well. Hugo? I have what I want. I guess there’s no need for you.”

Vasquez face fell, “WAIT. VAL NO!”

She grabbed his gun and shot him point blank in the chest. Blood splattered and landed on Fiona’s face. She shook her head and stared at Vallory who hummed to herself, smiling at the mess she made. Rhys and the others stood by Fiona. Rhys stared down at the one man he had always hated. 

Jack sighed,

“Poor ol’ Wallethead. Was a good laugh while it lasted.”

Rhys shuddered and looked back to Vallory who was clearly staring at him. Before she could do anymore damage, there was a loud whirling noise. It knocked Vallory to the side, causing the Gortys Sphere to land directly in front of Fiona. She held it with her foot as Athena, the Vault Hunter, stood directly in front of her. She was guarding them all with her shield. She threw it again, knocking and bashing every bandit surrounding them. Vallory pulled a knife but August held her back,

“Ma. Not here.”

She growled and pointed at Athena, “THIS AIN’T OVER.”

Athena stood strong, “You’re the one leaving. Looks over to me.”

Vallory smiled and shook her head, “Oh. You’ll feel when it’s over. I promise.”

They hopped into their truck and sped off. Athena took off her hood and revealed her scowling face.

“DO YOU REALIZE I’VE BEEN TRYING TO HELP YOU? YOU IDIOTS!”

Fiona looked at the others who were just as shocked, “Oh. Well..uh. Sorry.”

Athena sighed and paced, “You know, for once I want a job with a satisfying end. Even a kill or two. But this is NOT what I signed up for. Arrggg.”

Fiona looked at the others who shrugged and were more terrified than they let on.

Fiona walked closer to Athena,

“Couldn’t have told us earlier? Back at Hollow Point, that was you?”

Athena crossed her arms, “Yes, because blowing my cover is more important than letting those around us know I’m trying to protect you.”

Rhys smirked. He liked her but Jack was staring at her oddly. Fiona cleared her throat and stepped closer,

“Well. Now that that’s out of the way, any chance you’ll explain how you ended up helping us?”

Athena glared at her and walked closer, “Does the name Felix ring any bells? Well, he hired me to take care of you and your sister until I feel I have done my duty. Whatever that means.”

Sasha crossed her arms, “And why would Felix even care-”

Athena shrugged, “Paid a good bit of money to have it done so I assume he does care. Wants me to teach you two how to defend yourself and I plan on sticking to my word and getting the job done. Enough said.”

Rhys cleared his throat, “Hi. Uh. Question. Does you being here also include you helping us out with the Gortys project?”

Athena’s eyes went wide, “I tried to shut down those assholes in the first place. What’s in it for me?”

Rhys swallowed and Jack slow clapped, “Good job pumpkin. In case you haven’t picked up on it, Athena HATES Atlas. They used her. I’m no better but at least I didn’t-”

Fiona interrupted, “Take this as our mentoring, if you will. You help us. We help you. Case closed.”

Athena crossed her arms and sighed, “Fine. But if I feel you two are ready BEFORE this is all done, I’m leaving.”

Fiona rubbed her hands and nodded, “Works for me. Everyone else in?”

Everyone nodded or gave agreements except for Jack.

“Hell no."

Rhys ignored Jack and looked over at the group, “So, what now?”

Fiona sighed and looked at the Sphere, “Guess we figure out what to do with this.”

She kicked it but nothing happened. Rhys attempted to scan it but nothing was detected. He kneeled down and almost jumped when he saw the answer,

“I think I got something!”

Everyone surrounded him and Rhys pushed a little button. Out popped a robot with the cutest attitude and a high-pitched voice.

“Hi there! I’m Gortys! Nice to meet you.”

Fiona was smirking hard, “You are just the cutest thing ever.”

Gortys laughed, “Aww thank you! You’re not too bad yourself.”

Gortys noticed LB and wheeled over, “Another robot! HI THERE!”

LB looked down and waved, “HI.”

Athena groaned, “Can we get a move on?”

Rhys smiled towards Gortys, “Mind telling us who or what you are Gortys? Would be a huge help to solving this mystery.”

Gortys perked up, “Mystery? OOoooh, it’s like a spooky spy show!”

Sasha snorted, “Too adorable.”

Gortys looked around at everyone and smiled, “Well. I’m Gortys. I’m supposed to help you all find a vault! Except some missy over here kept killing off all the Atlas employees that were assembling me. So all my pieces are in various locations. And if I’m not wrong, the next piece is…..uhhhhhh….HMMMMM… OH! THIS WAY.”

Gortys pointed and began rolling, “UP AND AT EM!”

Rhys shook his head and looked to Fiona and the gang, 

“Are we actually doing this?”

Fiona shrugged, “Guess so.”

They gathered into the caravan and began the long journey to find the rest of Gortys, to find what vault they were hunting and for Rhys, it was to find out why Jack ended up in the state he was and how to get him out of his head. Having been with the girls for such a short time, they were growing close fast and that scared Rhys. Deep down, he knew Vaughn and himself were never getting back to Helios. This was their life now. Regardless of what they found next, it was a journey into the unknown and it was a journey that would continue to get more confusing and change their lives for better or for worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of boring. I apologize.


	9. Blizzard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and the gang continue to hunt for the next Gortys piece but nothing comes easy for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning. Some panic attack and some forced masterbation happens. Sorry for the spoils but gotta put the warning out there.

_The bots rose around Rhys and Fiona. Fiona grabbed Gortys and held out a grenade. Rhys panicked and looked to Jack for help._

_“Do it.”_

_Jack smirked as he took over Rhys’ body. He controlled the bots and began laughing hysterically with Rhys’ voice. He began killing everyone. Not just Vasquez, August and the bandits, but his friends. Rhys’ screamed, kicked and cried but nothing. NOTHING he did changed what Jack was forcing him to do, to watch and it was absolute torture. As Rhys watched all his friends die, Jack spoke in his voice,_

_“Never should’ve trusted me, kiddo.”_

“RHYS?!”

Rhys woke, crying and couldn’t breathe. Vaughn sat him up and Rhys noticed the others were awake and staring at him. None of them moved except for Gortys who rolled right next to Rhys,

“Why are you crying? Did you get hurt?”

Rhys wanted to laugh at his funny little friend but he couldn’t. His chest, brain and everything within him was on fire. Vaughn looked worried and tried to calm Rhys. He couldn’t bring his legs up but Vaughn noticed and shook his head,

“Rhys, you gotta’ breathe. Concentrate.”

Rhys nodded as tears poured down his face, but the images from his nightmare were all too clear. Jack awoke with a yawn as if he’d been sleeping,

“Oh wow, still night. What’s happenin’- Shit.”

Rhys ignored him because if he looked at him, he was pretty sure he’d scream and punch at the empty space. He was upset with Jack because of what happened. Whether it be his nightmares influence or not, he gave into Jack, Jack used his trust and made the situation deadly. He gave Jack firing power that could’ve easily turned out a million times worse. But his friends were still alive.

_They’re still alive._

“Come on. Gotta’ stand bro. This isn’t working.”

Rhys nodded as Vaughn helped him up but Rhys instantly fell back down. Athena stood on Rhys’ other side and helped Vaughn sit him up.

“Bring him to the caravan. Fiona? Sasha? Any chance there’s clean water in there?”

Sasha nodded and waved them to follow her in. They sat Rhys down at the table where he continued to cry and tremble. Sasha filled a small glass with water and handed it to Rhys but he couldn’t move. She looked hurt and moved it closer. Vaughn sighed and sat beside Rhys, picking up the glass.

“I got it.”

Rhys stared at his friend and shook his head but he only forced it closer to Rhys’ lips.

“N-n-n-n-o-“

“Rhys, please. You are dehydrated. You need this.”

He allowed Vaughn to serve him water, feeling all the more pathetic having to do it. His lack of medication was making it worse. Fiona leaned against the counter,

“Care to explain what the hell is happening?”

She was frustrated and Rhys hated they were seeing this. He tried to speak but Vaughn sighed and did the explaining,

“Not really for me to explain the story. But Rhys has… attacks. They were caused from working with Jack and well, being from Helios had its benefits when it came to care. And medication. But we left all that up on the station.”

Jack huffed, "From me? What a load of crap."

Athena became defensive, "Jack? The Handsome Jack? You worked for him?!" 

Fiona stood between Athena and Rhys, "Calm down. They're being chased by Hyperion now."

Sasha crossed her arms, “Jesus Rhys.”

He avoided her eyes. Clenching his hands seemed to only make it worse. Everything felt dark and if he didn’t get his breathing down soon, he’d pass out. He was exhausted and his body was catching up.

Athena cleared her throat, “Anything else we should probably know before we get rudely awakened again?”

Rhys looked towards Jack. He was staring away from Rhys but that question caught his attention.

Rhys nodded making Jack panic.

“Wow. Rhysie. Baby. You need to calm down and get your mind clear. Athena. Yeah. You tell her my NAME and she’ll cut your head off. Do NOT tell her. We didn’t end on the greatest of terms and I promise you she will not give you time to explain.”

Jack was mere feet away from Rhys and instinctively reached out and put his hand above his shoulder.

Rhys’ mind began to race. He knew Jack wasn’t wrong but he needed to tell them. He needed to tell ALL of them that Jack was there but Jack didn’t want it now. If they should listen to him, now would be the time.

As Rhys opened his mouth to talk, Jack reached for his port causing Rhys to flinch, making the pain much worse. He began screaming. Vaughn stared at him and grabbed him tight. Rhys could barely get the words out.

“I-I-I-I-m-s-s-s-orr-y.”

Vaughn shushed him and refused to let Rhys go. They all stood around and waited for Rhys to calm down. He was battling with Jack in his mind, wanting to tell the group but not actually knowing the outcome.

_Will they kill me? Betray me? Hurt me? Kill Vaughn? USE ME?_

Jack coughed, “Yeah. Yeah they will. They always do.”

The caravan hummed as it drove. Rhys was sitting on the floor. Actually, he was lying on someone but his vision was betraying him. That someone was running their hands through his hair. He flinched causing the person to pause.

“Vaughn?”

Sasha chuckled, “No. It's Sasha. Thanks for the compliment. I guess.”

Rhys tried to sit up but Sasha held him in place.

“It’s okay. How are you doing?”

Rhys noticed his breathing was back to normal but his heart was still pounding. His body was at an all time low and he had the biggest headache.

“H-how did I get on the floor?”

Sasha hesitated for a moment, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

He paused for a moment.

_Jack._

“Uh. Sitting? I think I was screaming. Vaughn was hugging me.”

Sasha stopped again and sighed, “Nothing after that?”

Rhys shook his head feeling sick, “No…I’m-”

Sasha shook her head, “Do you…black out often?”

Rhys was stunned it had even happened, 

“Never. I tried to hold on but…you know. Exhaustion is a bitch.”

Sasha laughed, “Yeah. You could say that. Those Hyperion meds must’ve been something if this is what they were helping.”

Rhys sighed, “They were incredible. And now I’m back to square one.”

Sasha frowned, “I’m sorry.”

Rhys stopped Sasha and sat up, rubbing his arms, “Why are _you_ sorry?”

Sasha crossed her arms, “I feel bad? Is that a crime?”

Rhys sighed and ran his hand through his now smooth hair.

“Listen. I never wanted any of you to witness that-”

“And now that we have, you don’t need to freak when it happens. Rhys. We get it.”

He shook his head, “No. You really don’t-”

Sasha huffed, “Oh so what, you think I’m stupid? What, you think everyone on Pandora is a lunatic?”

Rhys closed his mouth and grinded his teeth, “That’s not what I meant.”

Sasha threw her hands up, “Suurrreee it wasn’t.”

Rhys sighed and avoided her eyes, “What I’m trying to say is that it sucked that you all saw. It’s bad enough Vaughn’s constantly worrying about me, and now you guys? That’s the last thing I wanted.”

Sasha took a moment to let the words sink in before taking a big breath. She grabbed Rhys’ regular hand and squeezed it,

“I hear you loud and clear Rhys. I’ll still aim my gun at you if that’s what you want.”

Rhys laughed, feeling instantly relieved, but Sasha continued,

“Just know, not everyone on Pandora is a monster. Far from it. Whatever that was, you aren’t giving us some weight to carry. We’re just trying to make the travel a bit easier. We’ve all been through hell these past few weeks and frankly, things only seem to get worse. So when I say we get it, we get it. We want to help. All we ask is to have the same help and respect back. Easy enough, right?"

Rhys smiled and turned his ECHO on and off out of habit. He felt a blush wash over his cheeks as he stared at their hands.

The caravan halted causing Rhys to fall over. Sasha snorted as Fiona walked towards the door,

“Time for dinner.”

Sasha and Rhys followed and the group stood in front of what looked like a small farm. Small and large animals surrounded the area but nothing too harmful. Athena showed the group of them how to handle each animal differently, while also killing something to make for the night. Rhys didn’t enjoy that part. The sun started to drop, they set up a fire within the land and it began to lightly snow. Everyone started heading back inside the caravan. Jack appeared in front of Rhys and caused him to yelp. The others looked back and Rhys laughed nervously,

“Snow fell in my eye. Scared me.”

Fiona laughed, “Baby.”

Jack stood, arms crossed and clearly not happy, "Rhys. We need to talk.”

Rhys talked soft enough for only Jack to hear,

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

Jack laughed and stepped closer,

“Gonna’ have to eventually, cupcake.”

Rhys shuddered and turned away from the caravan.

They all went in and Vaughn hesitated, noticing Rhys.

“Hey. You coming? Early start tomorrow.”

Rhys looked at Jack and sighed,

“Just need more air. You know.”

Vaughn noticed Rhys’ eyes shift and sighed,

“Don’t need to lie to me bro. Just, maybe go talk somewhere else?”

Rhys rubbed his hand through his hair,

“Yeah. Sorry.”

He shrugged, “Don’t be. I’ll be here if you need to tune him out.”

Rhys smirked and watched as Vaughn shut the caravan door. He turned to see Jack tapping his foot. Rhys rolled his eyes and began walking back towards the farm area. He used his mechanical arm to open the barn and found a herd of weird and fluffy looking animals that seemed harmless.

Rhys sighed, “What do you want?”

Jack laughed, “Like you don’t know. That dream? Don’t appreciate you thinkin’ I’d do something like that.”

Rhys cocked his eye at him. He had no clue Jack could actually see or even be able to access his mind that way. Clearly, Jack did more then just hack his subsystems.

Jack chuckled, “Actually. Yeah. You’re right I would. Ha. Still. I didn’t. So, what gives?”

Rhys threw his hands up, “Jack, you TOLD ME we’d BOTH have control of that facility. And then you went off, taking full control and shooting around the place like it was nothing.”

Jack smiled, “Put on a great show though, didn’t I?”

Rhys was stunned, “Uh, actually no. It was terrifying. We could’ve died! Do you never think about ricochet bullets? Those can still kill people!”

Jack rolled his eyes, “Oh please. If I wanted anyone dead, they would be dead.”

Rhys was beginning to raise his voice without meaning to, “You wanted me dead right? You said so yourself that you'd see me again with the Warrior but you died trying.”

Jack paused and frowned, “I’m surprised _you_ remembered.”

Rhys groaned, “OH. MY. GOD, Jack. If you weren’t busy enough being up your own ass you’d maybe see things the way I do.”

Jack pointed a finger gun at him and winked, “And here we are now. I’ve literally been in you Rhys. Both physically and mentally. Feelin’ yeah perfectly fine, kiddo. Besides, I had _full_ control. I wasn’t going to hurt your pathetic friends… a lot.”

Rhys crossed his arms, “That’s not the point Jack. You told me to believe you and I put my trust in you. And you nearly got us killed.”

Jack laughed and wiggled his finger in Rhys’ face, “But I didn’t. In fact, I got you all out of there!”

Rhys was fed up. He found a stool and sat down, bouncing his legs. Jack sighed,

“Listen kiddo. I think we need to re-start. Build up again. Go back to us working together.”

Rhys avoided Jack’s gaze and put his head in his hands,

“Jack, it’s kind of hard to rebuild something when you tried to kill me.”

Jack smirked, “Eh, it’s complicated. I get it, but Rhysie? You gotta’ think about this. You will die. Probably. You hearin’ me? I can’t and I won’t let that happen. But I’m here to help.”

Rhys huffed, “Sure.”

Jack stepped closer, “Tsk tsk. See, I’m sensing some lack of trust here buddy.”

  
Rhys glared at him, “Maybe because you betrayed my trust and decided it was an okay thing to, oh I don’t know, have a mass murder! At least Fiona’s plan didn’t include DEATH!”

Jack laughed, “Pfft. Okay yeah. Throw a flash grenade and then what?”

Rhys was stunned, “I don’t know.”

Jack threw his arms up, “At least I HAD a plan. I kept everyone you asked me to keep safe, SAFE! I kept my word.”

Rhys rubbed his eyes and noticed he was shaking slightly but he allowed Jack to distract him for the time being.

Jack continued, “I’m-I need you to trust me, Rhysie. And I need to hear it from you. I’m all for getting this vault and for getting out of your head but I can’t do that unless we work together. And I’m a team player. Just ask Athena, she’ll tell yeah. I was always there for my team.”

Rhys leaned back against the barn and crossed his arms, “And what if I can’t trust you again?”

Jack stepped even closer, inches away from Rhys’ face,

“I guess we’re going to have an interesting time, aren’t we babe?”

Rhys shuddered but kept his face strong, “Well?”

Jack smirked, “Let’s just say you might have to trust someone you don’t want to. Do that and both of us might just make it out alive. Kay? Kisses.”

Jack flickered out of sight and Rhys was sitting alone in the barn, hearing the ambiance of the barn. A soft humming and purring came from the animals. He rubbed his hands together and noticed his skin glistening with sweat but his hands had at least stopped shaking. He took a big breath and nodded to himself as he got up and made his way back to the caravan. The group huddled around the couches and floor either already sleeping or just closing their eyes but Rhys’ mind was racing. He looked to Gortys who was sitting on the caravan driver seat, pretending to drive. Rhys smirked and walked towards her.

“Mind telling me where to go?”

Gortys smiled up to Rhys, “It would be MY pleasure!”

With that, the group slept while Gortys and Rhys took turns driving towards the next piece of the puzzle. Gortys was curious and wanted to try driving so Rhys controlled the gas while she took the wheel. She was giggling and enjoying every moment. Rhys kept that to himself and noticed Gortys was getting sleepy. He took the wheel and handed her off to LB.

Jack took a back seat and prepared his own plans by watching and studying every move, every person and every idea that crossed Rhys’ mind. One person that kept popping up was Jack - the time they had together - and another figure that Jack felt a bit disgusted by. Jack shook his head and refused to feel the jealousy that crept up. Sasha and Rhys holding hands. Why was that on Rhys’ mind? Jack chuckled to himself.

_Gotcha._

Snow fell and began to pick up speed and size. For the fourth time, Rhys had to turn up the heat in the car.

Fiona laughed, “That’s as high as it goes.”

Rhys looked towards her and let go of the heat dial.

“Care to explain why? I’m freezing.”

Jack huffed, “Even _I’m_ cold.”

Fiona looked over at Sasha, “Blame her. She spilled milk into it one too many times.”

Sasha blushed as she over heard them, “I WAS FIVE!”

Rhys smirked, “Suurrreee. Trying to sabotage, I see how it is.”

Sasha pretended to be grumpy, “That’s not at allll what I planned.”

Athena cleared her throat, “I think we should find proper shelter, park and wait for the storm to pass over. It’s only getting worse and it’s better we have a functioning crew and car while we’re ahead of the game. Maybe follow that path to the right. Might take us somewhere.”

No one protested as Rhys pulled up a map on his ECHO and found a smaller town not too far off. Just as they pulled in, the blizzard began to pick up. They ran out of the caravan and right into the town. They stuck close as they followed Athena and entered the first building only to find themselves surrounded by guns. They all put up their hands except Athena. She stepped forward and addressed the room,

"Can we speak to the boss? We just need a couple of rooms."

A booming voice entered the room, "Ladies. Gentlemen. Put the guns down. This is one of my most loyal customers."

Rhys recognized the face. He almost was stunned to be meeting him in person. As the man said, the people in the room lowered their guns and returned to their business. The man approached Athena and kissed her hand,

"Welcome to my humble... Store? Shop? Whatever. You get the point."

"Marcus. You owe me a favor. I'm here to claim it."

"About bloody time ah? What do you need."

"A couple rooms for a night or two. We just gotta wait for this blizzard to pass."

"That I can do."

Marcus stepped behind the bar and grabbed a couple keys. 

"Head upstairs to the right. Rooms 3 and 4."

"Thanks Marcus."

"Just remember, debt is paid."

Together, they all shuffled in and followed Athena to the rooms. She looked in both and they each had two queen beds. She looked at Sasha and Fiona.

"Girls share one room, the men and robots take the other?"

Rhys nodded and took one of the keys. The girls followed Athena into the one room and shut the door for privacy. Rhys and Vaughn entered the other room and immediately fell to the beds.They weren't that comfortable, in fact they felt pretty stiff. But it was better then sleeping in the caravan. Gortys and LB found a closet, took a spot inside and shut down to rest. Vaughn nearly squeeled at the sight of another door. He jumped off the bed and examined it.

"Rhys! We've got toilets and a shower! God damn I'm desperate for one. You wanna go first or can I? Please can I go first?"

Rhys chuckled and waved off to his friend, "Go nuts."

Vaughn shut the door and immediately started the shower. Rhys laid on the bed and felt himself drifting. His eyes closed, opened, closed and opened again. This time Jack was staring back at him, scaring Rhys. Rhys jumped up, sighed and punched one of the pillows, "Seriously, Jack. Just leave me alone for like five minutes."

Jack exaggerated his sigh, "But I'm bored."

"Go fly around and spy on people. I don't know. Just let me sleep for a few minutes."

Jack smirked devilishly and floated down next to Rhys on the bed. "I've got a better idea."

All of a sudden, Rhys lost control of his robotic arm. Rhys watched as it moved from the pillow to Rhys' stomach down to his pants and towards his-

"Stop! Jack no!"

Rhys tried to stop his arm but it was stronger then his regular arm. Jack chuckled to himself, "OH come on Rhysie. It's been a while for us both. Let's just.... I don't know, go crazy and blow off some steam."

Jack grabbed Rhys in his hand and pushed down on his dick through his pants. Rhys tried to back up into the bed and move away but Jack had his hand locked on him. Rhys tried to knock the hand away but was failing as Jack reached for Rhys' belt and unlatched it. Jack tore it off in a swift movement and threw it to the floor. Rhys panicked,

"Vaughn's gonna finish showering and catch you-catch us. I'm asking you to stop!"

Jack purred in Rhys' ear, "Wouldn't that just be a shame."

Rhys backed up until he hit the headboard. He tried to stand and get off the bed but by doing so, it allowed Jack to unzip Rhys' pants and get them down partly. Rhys panicked and tried to pull them up. He tripped and fell to the floor with a thud. He was worried he'd wake the robots but they continued to snooze. Jack stood above Rhys, who was completely out of breath.

"Jack-"

"Rhys... Listen. We can either do this the easy way or..." Jack kneeled down and brought his finger towards Rhys' port, "Or we can do this the hard way. Less fun."

Rhys flinched at the action and stood up, getting his pants back on. He sat at the edge of the bed, legs bouncing and heart pounding from the excursion. Rhys knew he was backed into a corner and didn't have many options. 

"Can you just... Wait until Vaughn's out of the shower?" 

Jack's ears perked, "You're not declining AND you want to do it in the shower. Damn Rhysie!" 

Rhys blushed at the mention but shook his head, "Not like you're really giving me a choice!"

Jack hummed, "See, not so sexy. But, I'll have you begging by the time this is over."

Jack flicked back into Rhys head. Rhys groaned and fetched his belt, strapping it back on and headed back to the bed to await Vaughn. He watched his eye and watched the time as it ticked. Was he seriously going through this? It made his stomach somewhat upset just thinking about it. He was going to let the man who nearly killed him, take advantage of him yet again. Rhys sighed and tried not to think of it that way. Jack wasn't wrong, it had been a long time but he didn't want it to be with Jack. But he didn't have many other options.

Vaughn finally filed out of the bathroom and was squeaky clean. He immediately jumped back onto the bed and before Rhys could ask him if he needed the bathroom anymore, he was out like a light. Rhys chuckled to himself and knew the guy needed sleep.

"Come on Rhysie."

Jack appeared at the door, finger waving Rhys over. Rhys could just go to sleep. But who knows what Jack would do while he was sleeping. Rhys groaned and found himself stepping to the door. He shut the door and locked it behind him. He ignored Jack's stares and turned the tub on, finding a decent temperature. The highest it would go was somewhat warm. Rhys didn't care. As long as he was getting clean. He turned the tap so the shower turned on. Rhys turned to find Jack leaning against the wall. Rhys looked down and realized he was still dressed. He blushed and hesitated,

"Could you at least close your eyes?"

Jack howled with laughter, "Rhys, I've seen you wipe your ass and we've fucked before."

Rhys blushed even harder. He hummed to himself, closed his own eyes and took his clothes off. First his shirt, then his pants. He didn't let Jack get a good look as he hopped in the shower as fast as he could. Little did Rhys remember that Jack was still able to see him in the shower. Jack flickered in with him and looked at Rhys, admiring him as he soaked himself in the water. Rhys brought his hands up to rub his hair through but all of a sudden his robotic hand snapped closed on his head and pulled back. Rhys nearly fell as Jack pulled onto Rhys' hair.

"Jesus Jack. Be careful!"

Jack chuckled darkly, "Just setting the mood."

The robotic arm let go of Rhys hair and slowly began tracing down Rhys body. Rhys watched it as it began teasing his nipples. Rhys huffed out, "Jack, just get a move on."

"Ah Tata. I set the pace Rhysie."

Rhys just wanted it to be over. Jack was making it painful. Jack used Rhys arm and began circling his right nipple, then his left. Jack slowly used the arm to trace down Rhys stomach and finally he got to his dick. Jack slowly took it in his hand and ever so slowly began to pump it. Rhys leaned against the wall and hummed to himself, feeling himself growing harder. He didn't want to enjoy this but his body was betraying him. Jack got close to Rhys and whispered in his ear, "Remember the day we fucked?"

Rhys hummed, "Ye-yeah?"

"I wish we could do it again."

Rhys huffed out, "Guess this is as close as you're getting."

Jack hummed in response, "For now..."

Before Rhys could ask what he meant, Jack began picking up the pace ever so slightly. Rhys hissed at the friction and had to use his other hand to hold onto the wall for balance. Jack continued to whisper in Rhys ear, 

"Remember how I just took you and placed you right on my desk? Man, I wanted to fuck you right there."

Rhys couldn't believe he was actually hard now. Jack continued to pump Rhys at a steady pace. Rhys was trying not to moan but Jack was making it hard, whispering into his ear even more, "I took you in my arms, and I placed you on that bed and I fucking destroyed you, didn't I Rhysie?"

Rhys didn't want to think about it but the images were there clear as day in his head. Jack making Rhys come and come for a second time, completely making him lose his mind. Rhys finally let out a small moan and Jack picked up the pace, 

"I wanted you to beg... I want you to beg me for it Rhys. Beg for it."

Rhys didn't listen to him. He wasn't going to satisfy Jack. But then all of a sudden, Jack stopped. Rhys groaned, "What the fuck?"

"I told you Rhys, I want you to beg."

Rhys ignored him and brought his regular hand down to finish the job but then the robotic arm grabbed his hand and slammed it into the wall. Rhys groaned, "That hurt Jack."

"Less of that, more begging."

Rhys rolled his eyes and decided to just get it over with, "Please."

"Please what?"

Rhys whispered it, "Please Jack."

Jack hesitated, "Please what? Sorry I couldn't really hear you there?"

Rhys raised his voice ever so slightly, "Please Jack."

"Ahh. Thought so."

Jack let go of Rhys' arm and brought the robotic arm back down to Rhys' dick. He continued the pace he was at before, making Rhys close his eyes and hum to himself. Jack slowed the pace down making Rhys groaned, "Jack just... Get on with it."

"Ah Tata. You didn't tell me what you wanted."

Rhys couldn't believe Jack was actually going to make him say it, "You can't be serious."

"Rhys. It's fucking. Of course I'm serious."

Rhys groaned and quietly gave in, "Fuck me."

Jack chuckled, "Gonna need that a bit louder."

Jack sped up ever so slightly. Rhys felt himself getting close, "Fuck me."

Jack purred in Rhys' ear, "Gonna need that louder, one more time."

Jack picked up even faster. Rhys nearly moaned, "Fuucckk meee."

Jack sped up and Rhys could barely hold on. Jack slowed down for a moment, "I wanna feel it Rhys."

Rhys flinched as Jack put his finger to his port, sending a chilling electric shock down Rhys' body and straight to his groin. Jack controlled Rhys body and switched his hand out. Now his regular hand was jerking him off, and the other was at his butt, inserting his fingers. Rhys was about to lose his mind,

"Jaccckkk."

"God you feel so good."

Jack went even faster and that was all Rhys could take. Jack and Rhys both moaned as he came. Rhys went ridged and felt the come flow down his hand. Jack gave the control back to Rhys but not without whispering, 

"You're a good little puppet, Rhysie."

Rhys immediately wanted to throw up. Rhys cleaned himself up as quickly as he could, hopped out, got into his clothes, nearly slammed the bathroom door shut and flopped onto the bed. Wishing he could just knock himself out but Jack kept replaying Rhys coming. Rhys squeezed his eyes shut and finally it all stopped and he was able to get to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL WHAT A SHIT SHOW FOLKS. things are picking up and things are getting interesting. Tales is seriously fun if you haven't played it, you should.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, things are gonna start slow but boy are they gonna pick up.... Or at least I hope they will haha. Cue me nervous laughing.


End file.
